Spokane, WA

Green Bluff had their annual strawberry festival this year on the last weekend on June and the first weekend of July. Strawberries are my favorite fruit, but unfortunately I was unable to attend the festival on either weekend. The only chance my husband and I had to go up there was on a weekday evening and fortunately we found a grower that was open until 7pm on most weekdays- Knapp’s. We have been to this grower before to pick raspberries, so we figured it would be a good place to pick some strawberries as well.

We arrived at Knapp’s just before 5pm and there were only about 3 other families there. After we parked our car we were met by an employee in a golf cart that was ready to drive us to the field. They have boxes for you to take out into the field to collect your strawberries in. Each box holds about 8 pounds we were told. As we were dropped off in the field, we were able to see a beautiful view of the valley below.

We began to pick berries where the last person on that row had left off (each person who picks berries is asked to leave a pink flag where they stopped picking so the next person can start there). They warned us that once you pick a strawberry it will not ripen anymore, so we stayed away from the green ones. In about an hour we both almost filled our boxes and we were ready for a ride back to where we started.

It was about 80 degrees when we were there and there is no shade available in the picking field. I was wearing shorts and a tank top and was pretty comfortable. The strawberry plants themselves didn’t have thorns or anything, but there were weeds mixed in that were pretty sharp. In hindsight I would have brought some garden gloves (which also would have prevented my hands from getting stained red from the berries). We ended up picking over 11 pounds of strawberries in 2 boxes. The cost of the strawberries is only $.99 a pound.

After picking our strawberries, we continued driving on the Green Bluff Loop in search of somewhere to eat. Most stores and cafes around there are closed by 6:00pm on a weekday evening, but we happened to find one that was open- High Country Orchard. This is a store and café. They sell many decorative items for your home, including many strawberry themed dishes and kitchen accessories. Towards the back of the store they have a small café where they serve baked items like scones, pies and brownies, as well as ice cream, smoothies, espresso and even hamburgers.

This was a very relaxing place to eat and just relax. They have indoor and outdoor seating available. The employees are very nice and courteous. We each had a huckleberry ice cream waffle cone and they were very tasty.

Going to Green Bluff on a summer evening made for a nice and relaxing date. Going on a weeknight means less people, but it also means that not as many places are open, so it’s a trade-off. But if you are looking for a nice date or family activity (and/or some very inexpensive fruit), Green Bluff is the place to go.

Green Bluff is located just north of Day-Mt. Spokane Rd in Mead (which is just North of Spokane). From Spokane Valley you can just take Argonne North until it runs into it. From downtown you can take Division North and continue on Hwy 2 and then eventually taking a right onto Day-Mt. Spokane Rd. You can visit their website for more info at www.greenbluffgrowers.com.