PECAN CREEK STRAWBERRY FARM

It’s strawberry season! When was the last time you remember eating a juicy, sweet, delicious, fresh strawberry? We took a poll at our house and realized that we only stumbled upon an outstanding basket of strawberries every few years. Most of the strawberries we’ve encountered have been mediocre. It’s just part of the supermarket game. But you know where you’re almost guaranteed to get an unbelievable strawberry…? A strawberry farm. And we recently found the #1 Dallas Strawberry Picking place at Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm in Denton County.  

But this is the LAST DAY! Seriously. The last day of the 2022 strawberry season is Saturday, May 21st. So, if you’re seeing this on May 20th, you know what you’re doing tomorrow. And if you’re here from the future (hello time-travelers!), you’re still going to want to read this post, because there’s a LOT to learn. 

P.S. Feel free to skip past Our Experience and go straight to the Basic Information section.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Our Dallas Strawberry Picking Experience
• More About Dallas Strawberry Picking
• A Bit About The Strawberry Farm
• Dallas Strawberry Picking Prices
• Absolutely Need To Know
• Lines, Lines, Lines
• Dallas Strawberry Picking Strategies
• Conclusion

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OUR DALLAS STRAWBERRY PICKING EXPERIENCE! 

Excited for Dallas strawberry picking (technically in DFW), we set out on Saturday morning, an hour before the farm opened at 10am. As we drove into Denton, we admired the scenery. We saw horses and pastures and beautiful trees. It felt so different from our usual Dallas city and suburb atmosphere. We were completely charmed by our weekend morning drive!  

Pulling up to the farm just a few minutes before it opened, we quickly discovered that this was a very happening spot! So many people were already lined up. The first parking lot was entirely full. We started to get anxious; should we have left earlier? Mom, the early bird, definitely thought so. But, as we started making our way to the lines, we settled into the atmosphere.

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MORE ABOUT DALLAS STRAWBERRY PICKING

Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm is a multicultural and family-friendly place of fun! Everyone there was happy and enjoying the morning. We met a woman in line who told us everything that she knew about the farm. She advised us to get our jam early before it sold out. How kind of her! That’s exactly what we did. We bought our jam, bought our bucket, then headed out to pick some strawberries. 

It was so fun! We were taking pictures, watching bees, chasing butterflies and trying our hand at picking strawberries. To be honest, Mom was doing most of the picking, and she got us a bucket full of the juiciest, reddest, and most plump strawberries we’ve ever had! It was the best strawberry picking ever! After about an hour, we were feeling the Texas sun, and we decided to head back home. Driving back, we turned onto Friendship Road and thought, “How fitting a name for a road in such a delightful place!”

As soon as we got home, we were strawberry inspired! We tried some of our strawberry jam, which was the freshest and purest strawberry jam we’ve ever had, and we ate strawberries together like we were sharing candies! Then, we decided to use the majority of our strawberries to make a strawberry cake! It was everything we dreamed it would be.

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A BIT ABOUT THE STRAWBERRY FARM

Before we start giving you the rundown, we want to talk about the people behind the business. One of the things we love about Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm is its story. The business is run by married couple Chris and Kylie Demases. Chris is a fourth-generation farmer, and the strawberry farm is located on Kylie’s grandmother’s land, which has been in her family for over a century. You can read more about their story here. It’s absolutely touching. Big thanks Chris and Kylie for providing us with such a wonderful and unique experience!  

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DALLAS STRAWBERRY PICKING PRICES

• BONUS INFORMATION: 
  • Check out their Facebook Page! They also announce how many berries they have and what’s in stock. Sometimes, they even announce extended hours and/ or evening picking times. Visit here.
  • Arrive 30 minutes early if possible. There will be lines. 
  • Wear sunscreen, closed-toed shoes and maybe a floppy hat.
  • Be aware a bucket holds over 4lbs of strawberries. So, a full bucket costs about $30. 

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ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW:

Now, let’s go over the nitty-gritty, the super important things that seem impossible to find on any other website or blog post. Without further ado, this is what you ABSOLUTELY NEED TO KNOW before you go to experience Dallas strawberry picking at Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm. 

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Lines, Lines, Lines

1. There are four lines! Count em’. One, two, three, four. Do NOT get in the wrong line. We saw this happen to several people while we were there. Our hearts go out to them, because lines are looooooong. If you go to Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm’s website, they are very up front and make no apologies about their humongous lines. BUT, there is a way to circumvent lengthy wait times. Read closely, because we hacked this hard.
   • Line #1 is for strawberry jam. 
   • Line #2 is for strawberry ice cream. 
   • Line #3 is for getting a red bucket to pick strawberries. 
   • Line #4 is for entering the strawberry fields.

Now here’s the skinny. You MUST buy a red bucket for $4. Period. However, the red bucket is yours to keep. This is where the trick comes in. Don’t throw away your red bucket! Under no circumstance is that a good idea. Why? Because you can use the same red bucket forever. In other words, you only have to do Line #3 once. Did we mention Line #3 is the longest? Because it is. So, learn how to skip it.

When we went, most of the people in Line #4 were people who had brought their buckets from last year. As soon as the fields opened, they rushed in to get the best strawberries while the bucketless had to watch in envy. Yes, Line #3 moves fast, but you do not want to wait in it under the blazing Texas sun. In conclusion, keep your red bucket. 

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DALLAS STRAWBERRY PICKING STRATEGIES

Don’t worry, we got you! There is a HUGE trick to these lines as well. So for your own benefit, read on. However, before we can tell you the trick, we have to explain two things.

• Everything sells out fast. 
• The lines have different lengths at different times. 

Still with us? Great! Jams sell out first (Line #1). To give you an idea of this, when we got in line at 10am (when the strawberry fields opened), after a 15-to-20-minute wait, we arrived at the front counter only to find out they were sold out of ½ pints. We’re not kidding! Thankfully, they still had full pints, so we got our jam. When we were leaving the fields about an hour later, the line had quintupled. We knew many people would be waiting in that line for nothing, because everything would sell out soon. Good thing, we got in Line #1 first. We were very lucky.

Unfortunately, we didn’t hop into the strawberry ice cream line (Line #2) until about 11:30am (30 minutes before the fields closed). We were too focused on the best strawberry picking! The plan was to cool down with a delicious, icy treat after picking a bucketful of strawberries.

Guess what? Everybody else had the same plan. The line that had been the shortest at the beginning of the day, was suddenly super long. Not only that, but it also moved the slowest. Why? Because while two people each worked the other lines, there was only one worker in the ice cream shack. He alone had to take orders, complete transactions and serve the ice cream. This line moved slooooow, so slow we decided to cut our losses and leave empty-handed. Don’t be like us! Get into this line next. 

NOTE:

1. If you have three people or more in your group, you can divide and conquer. Put one person in the jam line (Line #1). Put another person in the ice cream line (Line #2). And put the last person in the bucket line (Line #3) or the fields line (Line #4). If you only have two people, then prioritize the jam and ice cream lines. If you’re going by yourself, then prioritize Line #1. Follow the order. We met one solo traveler who came at 7:30am just to get everything done. As long as you’re strategic, you do NOT have to do that. Follow what we’ve laid out in this post, and you’ll be good to go! 

2. There is a Dallas strawberry-picking method. Point number one was super important, but this point is just as important if not more so. One of us grew up on a farm (mom), so pay attention, because we know what we’re talking about.
   • First, let’s talk timing. As we mentioned earlier, the strawberry season is from April to May. That said, the peak harvest time is around May 1st. At least that’s what Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm says on their website. However, we disagree. The best time to pick is definitely around mid-May. The strawberries are bigger and juicier. At the farm, we met an annual visitor, Tiffany. She also grew up on a farm, had already been picking earlier in the season, and confirmed our theory. But there’s a reason why Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm tells you to come May 1st. They want to make sure you come when there are plenty of strawberries (i.e. before everything is picked over). But here’s the thing, there are still PLENTY of strawberries later in the season if you know where to look…
   • Go to the back rows! When you first step onto the fields, there are rows of strawberries as far as the eye can see. You’re in strawberry heaven. The best strawberry picking heaven! You’re overcome with the urge to go to the first open row you see and start picking immediately. Ignore that urge. Go. To. The. Back. There you will find the best strawberries in the entire patch, pristine and waiting for you. This is a PRO TIP, and we hope you follow it so that you too can make the best strawberry cake (or scone or pie or you get the idea). Plus, nobody is in the back rows. See?

• Here’s another SUPER PRO TIP. Look underneath the leaves. Strawberry plants are very leafy, and very often, there are ripe strawberries hiding underneath those leaves. These strawberries taste delicious. Take it from us. You want those hidden strawberries because they are dark red and juicy. Bright red strawberries taste good. Dark red strawberries taste phenomenal. You are paying $7 per pound! So, don’t just pick any strawberries, pick the perfect strawberries.  

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CONCLUSION

If you’ve read this far, congratulations! You are now fully prepared for Dallas strawberry picking at Pecan Creek Strawberry Farm. Drive into Denton County and pick the best strawberries in DFW! Take lots of pictures and let us know how it goes. We’d tell you to have fun, but we already know you will. 😉 

Goodbye, until next time! And if you want to see more posts like this, make sure to subscribe to our email list where we describe everything to do in DFW. 

P.S. Keep an eye out, because in one of these posts, we’re going to tell you about jams even more amazing than the one we bought at the strawberry farm. We’ll also go over other U-Pick locations that make for the perfect weekend activity. And since this is our first post, if you want to learn more about us, visit our about page here.

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