Berks Connect
Food & Farms

What's in Season at Berks County Farm Stands, Month by Month

A month-by-month calendar of what is in season at Berks County farm stands, from May asparagus to October apples, built from Penn State Extension harvest windows and the stands' own posted seasons, with quantities for canning and freezing.

Berks Connect Blog|Published September 2, 2026
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Berks County's growing season runs about 183 days, from a last spring frost around April 21 to a first fall frost around October 22, per the Old Farmer's Almanac's NOAA-based frost table for Reading, and the stands follow it: asparagus, rhubarb and strawberries open the year in May and June, sweet corn, peaches and tomatoes carry July and August, and apples and pumpkins close it in September and October. What follows is a month-by-month calendar of what lands on the tables at Berks County farm stands and markets, built from Penn State Extension's Pennsylvania harvest windows and the seasons the stands post themselves.

Our guide to farm markets in Berks County covers where to buy. This one covers when.

Two cautions. Every window below moves a week or two with the weather (the USDA says as much in its seasonal produce guide), and a bad spring can erase a crop outright: Penn State's Pennsylvania tree fruit maturity report for August 3, 2026, described crops decimated by multiple springtime freeze events and hot, dry early-summer weather, with Berks one of the two counties it sampled. In a spring-freeze year like 2026, the calendar tells you what to hope for and the sign at the stand tells you what came in.

Berks is built for this. The county sits in USDA hardiness zone 7a across most of its area and 6b toward Kutztown, per the USDA 2023 map. The 2022 Census of Agriculture counted 1,767 farms here, ranked the county third of 67 in Pennsylvania for the market value of what it sells, and put 14 percent of those farms in direct sales to the public.

What's in season at Berks County farm stands, at a glance.

Month In season, per Penn State Extension and the state chart At Berks stands
April Nothing on the field calendar yet Plant sales; last frost around April 21
May Asparagus, rhubarb, radishes, spinach Stands open mid-May; strawberry picking opens late in the month
June Strawberries, sweet cherries, peas, lettuce, first beans and cabbage Strawberries, cherries; orchard blueberries start
July Sweet corn, tomatoes, peaches, cucumbers, peppers, onions, potatoes, squash, earliest apples Sweet corn arrives mid-month; peaches late in the month
August Peaches, tomatoes, sweet corn, melons, plums, grapes, pears, blueberries Canning month; melons; first apples on the tables
September Apples, pumpkins, winter squash, grapes, fall raspberries, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes Apple picking opens; hot peppers at the Chile Pepper Festival; pumpkins late
October Apples, pumpkins, cauliflower, cabbage, beets, carrots, late tomatoes Late apples and pumpkins; first frost around October 22
November Cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, beets, carrots, squash Storage crops; the stands named here post seasons ending between late October and early November
December to March Storage apples; winter squash to February, per the state chart Year-round markets; the auction's Saturday sales

April and May at Berks County farm stands: asparagus, rhubarb and the first open signs.

In season, per Penn State Extension:

  • Asparagus: May through the beginning of June.
  • Rhubarb: at its peak of freshness during May and June.
  • Radishes: May through the first week in November.
  • Spinach: May through the first week in July, then again from the third week in August through the end of October.

April is a planting month here. The last spring frost lands around April 21 at 30 percent odds, per the Almanac's Reading table, so the first things for sale are flats of tomato and pepper plants. The produce year starts before the stands do: the Kutztown Produce Auction, a wholesale-style auction on Oakhaven Road outside Fleetwood, opened its 2026 growing season on March 24, per its site (a wholesale auction, not a retail stop).

By mid-May the open signs go up. Fisher's Farm Fresh Produce on Memorial Highway in Oley Township posts its season as mid-May through the end of October, per its site; check before you go. Buy asparagus the day it was cut, and if a stand has rhubarb, take it, because the window is short.

June in Berks County: strawberry season, cherries and peas.

In season, per Penn State Extension:

  • Strawberries: June through the first week of July.
  • Sweet cherries and peas: the second week in June through the end of July.
  • Lettuce: mid-June through the third week in October.
  • Beans, broccoli and cabbage: from the end of June.

Weaver's runs ahead of the statewide calendar. Weaver's Orchard Inc on Fruit Lane in Robeson Township posts pick-your-own strawberries from late May into July, cherries early to late June, black raspberries in late June, and blueberries from late June to early or mid August, per its pick-your-own page.

Strawberries do not keep. Pick or buy them the morning you plan to eat them or put them up, and go early: Weaver's closes pick-your-own at 1 p.m. on any day the forecast tops 90 degrees, per its posted policy.

July in Berks County: sweet corn, peaches and the first tomatoes.

In season, per Penn State Extension:

  • Sweet corn: mid-July through mid-October.
  • Tomatoes: the second week in July through the third week in October.
  • Peaches: mid-July through the third week in September.
  • Cucumbers: mid-July through mid-September; peppers, eggplant and onions through mid-October; potatoes through the end of October; beets through the end of November.
  • Squash: July through the first week in November.
  • Apples: the earliest varieties from the end of July.

The state chart is tighter on the big three, putting sweet corn, tomatoes and peaches at July through September, per the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture. Weaver's posts its pick-your-own vegetables from mid-July to August and its peaches and nectarines from late July to mid August, per its page.

Buy the corn the day you eat it. Fisher's lists sweet corn first among what it grows, ahead of spinach, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, beets, lettuce and kale, per its site, and one reviewer calls it the best sweet corn in the world.

August in Berks County: tomatoes, melons and canning season.

In season, per Penn State Extension:

  • Melons: August through the third week in September.
  • Grapes: mid-August through the end of October; plums mid-August through the end of September.
  • Pears: the second week in August through the third week in October.
  • Carrots: the end of July through the end of November.
  • Blueberries: the end of July through the third week in September; spinach back from the third week in August.

August sits inside both charts' tomato windows, which makes it the month to buy for the shelf; the quantities are in the table further down. Weaver's opens pick-your-own apples in August and pears in late August, per its page, and the first apples reach the stand tables next to the last of the peaches.

When the melons are stacked out front, buy the tomatoes by the half bushel the same day.

September in Berks County: apple picking, hot peppers and the first pumpkins.

In season, per Penn State Extension:

  • Apples: through the end of October, early varieties finishing and storage varieties coming on.
  • Pumpkins: September and October.
  • Winter squash: picked when fully ripe, usually in September or October.
  • Brussels sprouts: usually harvested in Pennsylvania between September and November.
  • Raspberries: the fall crop, September through the third week in October.
  • Sweet potatoes: September and October, per the state chart.

September is apple month, and the order matters. Penn State's maturity report for August 31, 2026, had Berks finishing its Gala and Honeycrisp harvests with the red varieties not far behind, which is the sequence to expect: the sweet early apples first, the keepers after. Frecon Farms runs U-pick apples from early September to the start of November at its orchard at Poplar Road and Edgehill Road outside Boyertown, per its site.

Preston Orchards on Preston Road in South Heidelberg Township is the west-county apple stop. One reviewer praises the big selection of apples and pears and the pick-your-own when in season, and another singles out the Winesap. Weaver's posts kiwiberries from mid-September to mid-October and pumpkins from late September to late October, per its page; in 2026 that page flagged cherries, blueberries, peaches, pears and kiwiberries as no crop after the April freeze, and apples as a light crop.

Meadow View Farm on Bowers Road in Maxatawny Township is where one reviewer found "always a great selection of heirloom tomatoes and hot and sweet peppers" and another had never seen more varieties of jalapenos anywhere. One reviewer suggests calling ahead before driving out.

Three dated stops on the fall calendar:

  • Chile Pepper Festival, William DeLong Memorial Park, Bowers: September 11 and 12, 2026, 9 to 6, rain or shine, per the festival.
  • Farm Market and Fest, Berks County Heritage Center: Saturday, September 12, 2026, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., a pop-up market of Berks-grown produce, per Berks County Parks and Recreation.
  • Rodale Institute's Fall on the Farm, Kutztown: October 3, 2026, per the institute.

October and November in Berks County: late apples, pumpkins and the first frost.

In season, per Penn State Extension:

  • Apples: through the end of October; pumpkins through October.
  • Cauliflower: October and November, after a July and August crop.
  • Broccoli, cabbage, beets and carrots: through the end of November; Brussels sprouts through November.
  • Radishes and squash: through the first week in November.

The first fall frost lands around October 22 at 30 percent odds, per the Almanac's Reading table, and it draws the line under the season: tomatoes, peppers and corn end with it, and the cabbage family shrugs it off. Weaver's posts apples to early November and pumpkins to late October, per its page, and in the 2026 season that page flagged pumpkins as an expanded crop.

Winter at Berks County farm stands: storage crops and the year-round markets.

The stands named here post seasons that end between the end of October and early November. What stays:

  • Apples from cold storage, November through March, and winter squash, November through February, per the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's chart.
  • Leesport Farmers Market runs its Wednesday farmers market year round, per its site.
  • The Kutztown Produce Auction posts its last sale day of 2026 as December 15, with Saturday auctions continuing year round, per its site.

How to shop a Berks County farm stand.

  • Go in the morning. The corn came in at dawn and the picking rows are cooler; Weaver's closes picking at 1 p.m. on 90-degree days, per its posted policy.
  • Carry cash and small bills. Fisher's takes cash or check, per its site; Meadow View takes credit cards, per one reviewer.
  • Check before a long drive. Meadow View's reviewer says to call ahead, and Weaver's pick-your-own page carries a status line next to every crop.
  • Buy what is piled highest; that is the crop at peak.

Our farm stands and markets category page lists Berks stands with hours and directions, which is where to plan the loop.

How much produce to buy for canning and freezing.

The figures come from the National Center for Home Food Preservation and Penn State Extension, which also carry the processing steps and blanching times.

Crop Pounds per quart A bushel weighs A bushel yields Source
Sweet corn, whole kernel about 4½ (in husk) 35 lb 6 to 11 quarts National Center for Home Food Preservation
Peaches, halved or sliced about 2½ 48 lb 16 to 24 quarts National Center for Home Food Preservation
Snap beans about 2 30 lb 12 to 20 quarts National Center for Home Food Preservation
Applesauce about 3 48 lb 14 to 19 quarts of sauce National Center for Home Food Preservation
Tomatoes, whole or halved 3 (juice: 3¼) not listed 21 lb makes 7 quarts Penn State Extension

For a canner load of seven quarts, figure 31½ pounds of corn in the husk or 17½ pounds of peaches, per the same center. Buy for the shelf at the peak of the window and ask for seconds: one reviewer at Preston Orchards says even the seconds are beautiful. One Fisher's reviewer buys three bushels of sweet corn a year, which the table puts somewhere between 18 and 33 quarts, and that is a winter of corn chowder.

For the freezer, buy by the same table and portion into quart bags labeled with the stand and the week.

Frequently asked questions about produce seasons in Berks County.

When is sweet corn season in Berks County?

Mid-July through mid-October, per Penn State Extension's harvest calendar; the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's chart puts it at July through September. Expect the first local ears around the middle of July and the best of it in August.

When can you pick apples in Berks County?

Penn State's window is the end of July through the end of October. Weaver's Orchard posts pick-your-own apples from August to early November, per its page, and other U-pick orchards open in early September. Gala and Honeycrisp come first and the red storage varieties after, per Penn State's August 31, 2026 maturity report for Berks.

When do Berks County farm stands close for the winter?

Around the first frost. Fisher's posts its season as mid-May through the end of October (check before you go), and Weaver's posts its last pick-your-own crop, apples, to early November.

What is the first frost date in Reading, PA?

October 22, at a 30 percent probability, per the Old Farmer's Almanac's frost table for Reading, which uses NOAA's 1991 to 2020 climate normals from the Reading Spaatz Field station. The last spring frost is April 21 by the same table, for a 183-day growing season.

Sources