Dozier’s Sta-N-Step Blueberry Farm

Last year I was perusing Instagram and came across a photo of a big, beautiful bucket of blueberries. It looked so enticing. When I happened to read the location tag I was thrilled to see those blueberries came from right down the street in our new neck of the woods! Alas, the hubs and I missed picking season by a week last year, so earlier this month I was excited to have the opportunity to go berry picking in Northwest Arkansas .

Berry Picking in Northwest Arkansas

Before I moved to Northwest Arkansas I was a bit out of touch when it came to farming. I had always envisioned guys riding around huge parcels of land on tractors overlooking fields of corn. I do live near a corn maze or two, so my vision wasn’t exactly far-fetched 😉 . Shopping the Little Italy Mercato in San Diego made me informed by my standards (lol).  Beyond that I really didn’t give much thought to how farming affects all of our lives.

Once I got here, I was humbled by all that goes into it. Attending the Farm2Home event last month opened my eyes even more. I have mentioned it before; with the exception of citrus all types of US produced crops are grown in Arkansas. This includes berries. Lots and lots of delicious berries. I couldn’t wait! With visions of blueberry muffins and berry sangria dancing in my head it was time to take ourselves to Dozier’s Sta-N-Step Farm.

Location

Places in Arkansas aren’t exactly where they say they are. A lot of addresses list one city, but the location is another city altogether. I’m still learning. So while the address says Fayetteville, Dozier’s Sta-N-Step Farm is really in Tontitown (yes, home of that family with 20 children). We pulled up on a hot morning and were greeted by Kathy and her kids. They handed us our buckets and we got to picking our blueberries first:

After we got enough blueberries to last a year, we bought a couple of bottles of water, paid for our load and Kathy directed us up the hill to her husband Les. It was time to get our blackberry picking on.

Blackberry Picking

They look so similar to raspberries when they’re not ripe. If you go, make sure you get the ones that are really dark. They’re sour, otherwise.

When we got a good gallon and a half, we headed to the barn to pay. Les couldn’t have been nicer and I may have drooled a little over his peach and apple trees.

Then I went home and made all the things!

If you’d like to go berry picking in Northwest Arkansas, you can find Dozier’s Sta-N-Step Farm at:
3104 Wildcat Creek Blvd, Fayetteville, AR 72704
Check out their Facebook page for when they’re open (they’re very responsive via Facebook).