Pick your own around Auckland

Auckland carries the largest number of self-pick farms of any region on this site, which follows from having a third of the country’s population and a warm growing climate on its doorstep.

Strawberries first

Strawberries are the region’s mainstay and the reason most Aucklanders visit a farm at all. The season runs from spring into summer, roughly October through January, with the earliest fruit in the warmest sheltered spots.

Because Auckland is warm, its strawberry season starts earlier than most of the country. When the south is still weeks away, Auckland is picking.

What else

The region also carries blueberries, raspberries, boysenberries and blackberries, running through summer, plus a scattering of tree fruit: there are apple and pear growers, and tomatoes under cover.

That mix means Auckland has something open across a longer span than a single-crop district, though nothing here matches Central Otago for cherries or the Bay of Plenty for boysenberries.

Practical notes

Go early on a weekend. These farms serve a very large city and the popular strawberry farms fill their car parks by mid-morning in December. A weekday morning is a different experience.

Auckland humidity is hard on picked fruit. Strawberries picked warm and left in a car will be soft by evening. Take a chilly bin, and put the fruit in it as you leave rather than when you get home.

Rain. Auckland gets a lot of it, and a wet week softens strawberries and closes rows. Farms post their opening status regularly in season.

Sun

New Zealand has some of the strongest ultraviolet radiation in the world, considerably stronger than at the same latitude in Europe. An hour in an open strawberry field in December will burn unprotected skin. Hat, sunscreen and a shirt, even on an overcast day.

Updated 10 September 2026