Strawberry picking in Stellenbosch
Bucketful’s of juicy strawberry picking fun awaits at Polkadraai Farm in Stellenbosch. A must-do seasonal family outing that’s entertaining for kids and adults alike.
I challenge you to find me a kid that doesn’t love picking fruit or flowers. We’ve done this activity a couple of times over the years and it never loses its appeal with my trio…or me truth be told. If the thought of letting your kiddies loose in a massive strawberry patch to potter around picking and choosing their own deliciously ripe farm fresh strawberries sounds good, then read on!
Where is Polkadraai Farm
Polkadraai Farm is easily accessible from the N1 or N2 and is just off the M12. The farm can be easily spotted by the “gigantic can’t miss” red strawberry which is your cue to turn into Vlaeburg Road. There’s plenty of off-road parking.
The strawberry picking
On arrival enter the little farm shop which is stocked with all sorts of fresh, savoury, sweet and tasty deli goodies. Here you purchase your preferred size bucket to pack those yummy, handpicked strawberries into. There are 4 bucket sizes starting at R40 per person (approx. 700g). If you purchase a combo option of strawberry picking plus one of their other activities, you’ll receive R5 discount. More about those activities in a bit. Note that you may not enter the strawberry picking fields without a bucket.
Other Polkadraai Farm activities
Polkadraai Farm offers lots more than the main drawcard of strawberry picking. It’s a mini destination with many other fun activities to keep busy kids well out of mischief all whilst soaking in fresh air.
Extra activities include tractor rides around the farm, mini-golf, pony rides, face painting and peddle carts too! One add-on activity can be purchased at a discount with the strawberry picking bucket or you can purchase tokens at R25 for additional activities if you wish to do more than one. Arts & crafts are available at 2 tokens per craft.
There are 2 big jungle gyms and loads of wide-open grass to burn off that endless energy. Polkadraai Farm can also host birthday parties. I’m always unashamedly seduced by an outsourced no mess, no fuss party option!
Refreshments
It’s thirsty and calorie burning work picking all those strawberries and my three kids were pretty worn out after the picking and then chasing each other on the peddle carts for their extra activity. Having them exhausted was quite the desired result I’ll be honest.
You can purchase drinks or snacks inside the deli shop or treat yourselves to some takeaway from the mini Burger Brothers food court and then sit at the benches. The menu includes things like soft serve, slushies, coffee, waffles, burgers, fries, sandwiches etc.
I treated the kids to soft serves which refuelled their energy levels all too quickly, whilst I sipped on what was a really good cappuccino and ate some salty fries. The kids not so subtly nicked from my stash so we bought some extra fries for my 3 very hungry caterpillars.
More information
Our morning out was a huge success. Mornings are cooler than afternoons which is something to keep in mind. Either way, don’t forget sunscreen and possibly hats. It’s the third time we’ve done strawberry picking here over the past few years at Polkadraai Farm. I can highly recommend it.
Visit the Polkadraai Farm website for more information. Strawberry picking season typically runs from September through to January. They’re open 7 days a week from 9am to 4pm, except Christmas day.
Other fruit picking fun
If your family loves fruit picking, don’t miss out on cherry-picking season at Klondyke farm in Ceres coming up very soon, usually towards the end of November. See this blog post on our cherry-picking fun a couple of years ago and join the Klondyke Facebook page to watch out for details.
Here’s another super fun outing in the area to the Stellenbosch Botanical Gardens that the whole family will love!
One Stop Wanderlust showcases family travel and family-friendly outings in South Africa. Grab a coffee and stay on the blog to find more exciting wanderlust worthy ideas and tips.
