More than strawberries: Czech farms expand pick-your-own produce options

Across Czechia, farms are increasingly inviting people to harvest more than just the traditional summer staple of strawberries this season. Pick-your-own fields now include everything from garlic and herbs to pumpkins, flowers, and even melons, according to a new Czech Television report.

The trend, confirmed by farmers across the country, is extending the harvest season and changing how people experience fresh produce. Instead of buying pre-picked goods, visitors are now walking directly through fields to gather ingredients themselves, often at lower prices and with closer insight into where their food comes from.

The self-picking season now begins in early June with crops like dill and rhubarb, gradually expanding into a wide range of vegetables, fruits, herbs, and even ornamental flowers through late summer and autumn.

Farmers say the expansion of self-harvest fields is driven both by customer demand and experimentation with new crops.

“After the strong interest in strawberries, we started thinking about what other vegetables to offer,” Jan Simandl, owner of Farma Simandl in Jiraticích, told Czech Television. The farm has recently introduced garlic and is also experimenting with pick-your-own cucumbers. “Interest in self-harvest vegetables and fruit has been growing recently,” he added.

At Farma Dryák in the Mělník region, the offer has expanded even further, including melons, zucchinis, and eggplants, with new seasonal options like apricots, apples, and pears planned. “We like trying new crops, new varieties and new ways of growing,” said owner Karel Dryák.

Other farms are following similar patterns. In Sedlnice, Farma Lička currently offers self-harvest herbs such as dill, lovage, oregano, and sage, while other locations gradually add cucumbers, garlic, and later summer crops like melons and eggplants.

By late summer, offerings typically shift to vegetables such as beets, parsley, and sea buckthorn, followed by autumn crops like pumpkins and cabbage.

The concept of self-harvesting is no longer limited to food crops. Herbs and flowers have become a growing part of the offer, with farms near Brno and Opava allowing visitors to pick mint, lemon balm, thyme, chamomile, lavender, and rosemary.

Flower farms are also seeing rising interest in so-called “pick-your-own bouquet” fields, where visitors can cut their own arrangements directly from seasonal blooms such as tulips, peonies, or sunflowers.

“Currently, customers can harvest mint, lemon balm, thyme, and chamomile, and lavender will be available soon,” said Lukáš Vícha from Bylinková farma Víchovi near Opava.

Some farms have also experimented with less successful crops. Dryák noted that sweet potatoes proved too difficult in local conditions, while gladiolus flowers led to issues with visitors pulling up bulbs. Others have abandoned pick-your-own pickling cucumbers due to maintenance challenges and uneven harvesting.

Beyond customer interest, farmers say labor shortages are a key reason behind the expansion of self-harvest fields. Recruiting reliable seasonal workers has become increasingly difficult across Czech agriculture.

“Finding reliable and skilled employees who are interested in agriculture is becoming more and more difficult,” said Dryák. Simandl added that in some cases, farms simply cannot manage harvests without customer participation.

Some farmers say they still receive large numbers of inquiries from people checking crop availability online, but emphasize that staffing constraints are shaping how farms operate.

As a result, what began as a simple strawberry-picking tradition is evolving into a broader model of direct-to-consumer agriculture: one that blends tourism, local food production, and practical responses to workforce shortages across Czech farming.