FAQ
Please read the entire FAQ. It answers pretty much every question we receive.
When can we pick stuff?
WE ARE CLOSED FOR 2024!!
When we open for the season, our picks are only announced only a few days in advance. You must book a spot in order to come pick.
The picking season runs for about 8 weeks from mid-May to mid-July, and then we close until the following May. We pick about 4 days a week. Picks are three hours long and always take place in the morning. They are divided into one-hour time slots so you can choose when you want to arrive.
Stay tuned to our homepage, Facebook, and Instagram, where we will announce the next pick date. We will send weekly emails to keep you informed on what’s ready, but do not send emails to announce every pick (sign up for the emails on the homepage in the box that says “Subscribe to our Picking List”). You must check the above sources to know the upcoming open days and times. You cannot book a spot through email or social media messages - all scheduling is handled through the widget on the website.
Here’s how it works. We operate on a reservation system, much like a restaurant - we limit the number of people per hour allowed in. We do this to make sure we can keep lines short, our guests have plenty to pick when they come out, and to ensure they can receive personal attention from us.
Before every pick, we will assess the amount of produce that’s ready to pick and drop a number of spots in the scheduling widget on our homepage. You can't book a spot more than a few days in advance because we don't know how much produce will be ready more than a few days in advance, and that’s how we determine the number of spots.
Admission to the farm has changed! There are Regular Admission (single visit passes) and Season Passes.
Regular Admission:
$5 plus tax per person entering the farm one time, whether they are directly participating in the picking or not.
If you plan to visit once or twice during the season, Regular Admission is for you! Regular Admission must be booked in advance on the website for the time slot you wish to visit, you cannot come to the farm without having booked in advance. Spots will become available for booking at a designated time a few days before the pick, the handy countdown timer will tell you when that is. Book one admission for each person in your party, excluding babies under the age of 1. You cannot book groups larger than 6 people.
Season Pass:
WE ARE SOLD OUT OF SEASON PASSES FOR 2024!
If you plan on coming to the farm frequently, the Season Pass is for you! Season Pass holders are not required to book spots or pay admission beyond the purchase of the pass. Kids older than one year count towards the total of people. There are four types of Season Passes:
$55 - All Access, Family (admits up to 6 people to every pick, includes weekends)
$35 - All Access, Individual / Couple (admits up to 2 people to every pick, includes weekends)
$40 - Weekday Only, Family (admits up to 6 people to weekday picks, excludes weekends)
$25 - Weekday Only, Individual / Couple (admits up to 2 people to weekday picks, excludes weekends)
It’s not letting me book a spot right now tho!
If you can’t book a spot, they have either not been made available yet, they are full, or there are no picks scheduled.
Can’t I just wander by one day?
If it’s not during a pick, we are closed! Do not drop by, we do not permit walk-ins. When we’re closed to visitors, we’re working on our plantbabies.
Is there a trick to getting a spot? They sell out so fast!
It’s pretty much luck if you refresh the page the moment the spots pop up. The weekend spots go much quicker than the weekday. One tip is to stay on the page and refresh after 10 or 15 minutes, because the spots will die in people’s shopping carts after a certain amount of time if they don’t complete the transaction and become available again.
I got a spot, but now I can’t come. :/
Please take a moment to cancel your spots so someone else can use them! All you need to do is reply to your ticket confirmation email saying you need to cancel. To receive a refund, you must cancel your spots before midnight the night before the pick. Please allow a few days for refunds to process.
Your admission fees will not be refunded if you no-show, if you email to cancel your spots later than midnight the night before the pick, or if you bring fewer people than you paid for to the farm. Please understand, regardless of the reason (including illness), we cannot cancel and refund spots on the morning of the pick because there is no time for anyone else to book and use them.
When will you release the spots for [the date I wanna come]?
Spots are only released a couple of days before each pick. You cannot book a spot further in advance, because we cannot predict how much will be ready to pick more than a couple days in advance.
But I want to come in three weeks, and I don’t see any sessions listed more than a couple days away. Are you closed? Wha??
All that means is that we have not made the spots available to book yet. We do not release spots more than a couple days in advance of the pick. We have approximately 30-40 picking days every season, so there will be ample opportunity to visit.
That’s totally clear and I understand completely! I better get there early to stand in line though, right?
There is no need to get here early! If you’ve booked a spot, you’re getting access to the field at the same time as everyone else. The parking lot does not open until 15 minutes before the first time slot, and we will not start picking before the first time slot begins. Plan to arrive at the beginning of your time slot so you have a whole hour to pick. Last check out is thirty minutes after the last time slot ends and that is when we close, so being on time is especially important if you’ve booked the last time slot of the day.
So, what will be ready to pick?
It will vary over the season! During May, the thornless blackberries will start ripening along with beets, onions, garlic, and carrots, and into June we ought to have cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, squash, and more. We anticipate the season closing mid July. The handy chart on the homepage is a good estimate of when crops should be ready. There is no guarantee of produce availability or quantity from day to day, particularly for the last picking hour of the day. We do our best to target the right number of pickers for the right amount of produce, but we cannot always predict how heavily we’ll be picked before you arrive.
Sweet. How much does it cost?
Depends on the crop! For every picker there is the $5 admission fee (counted as feet on the ground - there is no fee for babies). Blackberries are $7 per pound, big tomatoes and beets are $3 per pound, cherry tomatoes, carrots, and sweet peppers are $4-5 per pound, hot peppers are $8 per pound (a pound of hot peppers is a lot of hot peppers), onions are $2 per pound, cucumbers are $2.50 per pound, garlic are $1-2 each, squash are $2 per pound, sunflowers are $1-2 each. Our prices are aligned with the other local growers at our Dallas-Fort Worth Farmers Markets. You may pick as much or as little as you wish, but if you pick it, you bought it, so keep an eye on little ones and don’t pick more than you can use. If we see you picking and discarding good produce in the field, you will not be permitted to return.
Will you have blackberries on the day that I come?
We cannot guarantee the availability of any produce on any given day. If you must have guaranteed availability and quantities of specific items of produce, go to HEB - a local farm is not for you. We grow about a dozen kinds of of fruits and vegetables that vary in availability based on the season, weather, and how many people have picked from them before you got here.
Wait a minute - how come there were a lot of berries on that one day I came three years ago, but there aren’t any berries on the one day I came this year??
Pure Land Farm is not a factory! Agriculture is a living system with many variables. Perhaps you have come at a different point in the blackberry season, or the crop was larger the year of your previous visit, or the berries were plentiful but picked before you arrived.
How does the picking work?
When you arrive, you’ll line up to enter and check in by name. You’ll get a bucket or basket from us under the tent, and we'll talk about what's good for the pickin' that day and how to do it. Then you can head into the rows to make magical memories harvesting beautiful fresh produce with your family. There will be signs and help in the rows to tell you what’s what and how to pick it.
When you're done, come on back up to the tent, tag us in a sweet selfie with your haul of veggies, and we'll weigh the crops out to total you up.
Do I have to bring cash, or do you take credit cards?
It's 2024, y'all! You bet we take credit cards! But they do take a chunk for processing fees, so cash is always king.
Awesome! What should I bring and wear?
A cloth or washable bag would work great to take your veggies home, but we do hoard paper bags from Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods all winter too. If you have a bag pile too, we’d love you to bring it in for us to reuse!
A hat and closed-toed shoes are ideal attire. We wear long sleeves and pants even in the summer, so bring sunscreen if you need it. If it rained the day before, boots are a good idea. While we do not generally have chiggers, bug spray is also always a good idea.
OMG, will there be bugs??
Totes! We do NOT use synthetic pesticides, so you are definitely gonna see a few bugs, many of which (whom?) are actually beneficial!
Can I bring my dog?
Sorry but for food safety, no doggos are allowed at the farm.
What happens if I need to pee?
We have two wholly adequate Port-a-Potties that are serviced weekly.
I can handle that. But what if it rains?
We will stay open for sprinkles, but not for thunder and lightning. If the weather is looking bad, we’ll post a cancellation on social media and you’ll receive an email and text canceling the pick. We will not make the decision to cancel any earlier than the morning of the pick. You just can’t trust the weatherman!
Do you grow or sell [x]?
We do not grow blueberries, corn, pumpkins, and many other things. We do not have chickens for eggs or cows for milk. Currently, we only grow the following:
blackberries
carrots
beets
onions
garlic
cucumbers
bell peppers
hot peppers
slicing tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
cantaloupes
summer squash
sunflowers
Do you sell direct to the public? Can I place an order and pick it up? Do you wanna join my farmers market or supply my farm stand? Do you sell to restaurants?
We are a one hundred percent you-pick farm, meaning we only sell directly to the public in a fun agritourism setting. You book a spot in the time slots we offer as described, then you come out to the farm to pick and pay for it. You cannot place an order to be picked by us, and then picked up or delivered. We do not go to farmers markets or supply produce in bulk. We do not keep a farm stand or sell to restaurants. Youuuuuuu-pick!
Hey, why didn’t you answer my email or Instagram DM or Facebook message or phone call or voicemail?
We are a two-person company here at Pure Land Farm! That means there is no “office person” manning the phones. We keep pretty busy planting, mowing, trellising, fertilizing, weeding, pruning, mulching, shoveling, spreading hay, inspecting crops, applying pest and disease control, scheduling picks, updating the website and social media, and washing baskets.