U-Pick Farms Near Long Beach in Winter
Winter u-pick near Long Beach is a short list, and the nearest farm truly picking in the cold months is the La Verne Heritage Foundation Orange Grove: a working grove in Los Angeles County that opens for picking on Saturday mornings from mid-January (January 10 in 2026) until the oranges run out, at $6 a bag with bags and picking poles supplied. For a full farm day on any day of the week, Underwood Family Farms in Moorpark stays open through winter except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, with citrus and cool-season vegetables in the rows.
The seven farms split by month. January is citrus: La Verne's oranges, Underwood's Somis tangerines and Moorpark's lemons and mandarins. February is berries, when Carlsbad Strawberry Company and Gerry Ranch's blueberry fields open, weather permitting. Tanaka Farms in Irvine, the closest farm to Long Beach, sits in between: in some years it announces a short run of January strawberry dates.
Our picks
- Oranges close to Long Beach: La Verne Heritage Foundation Orange Grove. $6 per bag with bags and poles supplied, Saturdays from January while the oranges last.
- Any day of the winter: Underwood Family Farms - Moorpark. Open daily except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, with broccoli, kale, lemons and mandarins to pick.
- Tangerines on a small budget: Underwood Family Farms - Somis Farm Center. $5.00 per person to enter the picking fields, with tangerines from January into May.
- Strawberries in February: Carlsbad Strawberry Company. The season typically starts in February and the field is open daily; $18 admission includes a bucket.
At a glance
| Option | Address | Winter Crop | Winter Season | Cost | Open Days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3370 Sunset Valley Road, Moorpark, CAsource | Citrus and vegetablessource | Open every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Daysource | $8.00 admission per person on weekdays, $12.00 weekends and holidayssource | Dailysource | |
| 5696 E Los Angeles Ave, Somis, CAsource | Citrussource | Tangerine picking runs January into Maysource | $5.00 per person to enter the picking fieldssource | Dailysource | |
| 5001 Via de Mansion, La Verne, CA 91750source | Citrussource | Saturdays from January 10, 2026, while the oranges lastsource | $6 per bag of oranges, bags and picking poles suppliedsource | Saturdays onlysource | |
| 5380 3/4 University Drive, Irvine, California 92612source | Strawberriessource | Mid-January, on dates the farm announces each yearsource | $24 per person for the winter u-pick wagon tour, ages 3 and upsource | Announced dates onlysource | |
| 33201 Ortega Hwy, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675source | Strawberriessource | Year-roundsource | $5 entrance fee per car, then $5 per pound for what you picksource | ||
| 1050 Cannon Rd, Carlsbad, CA 92008source | Strawberriessource | February through July, weather dependingsource | $18 admission with a u-pick bucket, $10 without onesource | Dailysource | |
| 9015 Rosita Rd, Camarillo, CA 93012source | Blueberriessource | February through Junesource | Weekends onlysource |
Citrus in January, berries in February
Someone planning a December trip has two options here: Underwood's Moorpark farm, whose month-by-month calendar lists broccoli, kale, leeks, lettuce, grapefruit, lemons and mandarins for January and February, and South Coast Farms in San Juan Capistrano, which directories list as year-round, though what is in the rows shifts with the month. January adds La Verne's oranges and the Somis tangerines.
The berry farms are late-winter trips. Carlsbad's strawberries run February through July, and Gerry Ranch's blueberries February through June, one of the earliest blueberry openings in Southern California. Both openings move with the weather, and Gerry Ranch's depends on how much winter chill the bushes get.
What a winter visit costs at each farm
The Cost column is written in each farm's own terms because the farms charge on different bases. Underwood charges per person to enter, $8.00 on weekdays and $12.00 on weekends at Moorpark and $5.00 at Somis. La Verne charges $6 per bag of oranges. South Coast takes $5 per car and then $5 per pound. Tanaka's winter u-pick wagon tour is $24 per person for ages 3 and up, and Carlsbad is $18 with a picking bucket or $10 without. Gerry Ranch publishes no price.
For a family filling one bag, La Verne is the cheapest way to take fruit home. For small children who need more than the rows, Moorpark's admission includes a wagon ride out to the fields, and Carlsbad's covers a sunflower maze and a tricycle track.
Reservations, Saturdays and checking before you drive
Only three farms simply open every day in their season: the two Underwood sites and Carlsbad. La Verne is Saturdays only, Gerry Ranch weekends only, and Tanaka runs everything as timed, ticketed tours on dates it announces each year, so a spontaneous winter visit there isn't possible. Gerry Ranch posts each week's hours to Instagram and South Coast posts its hours to social media rather than a website, which makes them the two to check the morning you go.
The options in detail
Underwood Family Farms - Moorpark
The biggest and most reliable pick-your-own operation within reach of Long Beach, and the rare one that keeps its fields open right through January and February. Winter picking here leans on cool-season crops: the farm's own month-by-month calendar lists broccoli, kale, leeks and lettuce alongside grapefruit, lemons and mandarins, and a tractor-drawn wagon ride out to the rows comes with the gate admission. There is an animal center and a farm market on site too, so it works as a whole family outing rather than a quick fruit run. The catch is the drive: Moorpark sits well up in Ventura County, so this is a day out from Long Beach, not a morning.
Underwood Family Farms - Somis Farm Center
Underwood's smaller Ventura County site, a 12-acre farm center just off the 118 next to Camarillo, and the one worth the drive specifically in winter: tangerines come on in January and run into spring, months before the berry fields wake up. Admission is cheaper here than at the Moorpark farm and buys you into the picking fields, with an animal center tucked among a small grove of citrus trees and a farm market that has been running since 1980. It is a quieter, plainer stop than Moorpark, so families after a full day of farm activities usually choose the bigger site instead.
La Verne Heritage Foundation Orange Grove
A rarity: a working orange grove inside Los Angeles County that opens to the public for picking, on Saturday mornings from the second week of January until the fruit runs out. The Foundation supplies the mesh bags and the picking poles, and the historic Weber House on the property opens for tours the same mornings, so it doubles as a local-history stop. This is the closest true winter u-pick to Long Beach and the cheapest way to fill a bag on this list. It is also the shortest season here, running only as long as the oranges last, so call ahead before making the drive.
Tanaka Farms
The closest working farm to Long Beach on this list, and the one Orange County families default to. Its headline picking is the tractor-tour strawberry season, which normally belongs to spring, but in years when the earliest berries come in Tanaka has opened a short run of January picking dates and a winter u-pick wagon tour, both on paid reservations. Everything here runs as a timed, ticketed tour rather than walk-up picking, so a visit needs booking rather than a spontaneous drive. Winter dates are announced year by year rather than fixed, so treat January as possible, not guaranteed, and check the farm's calendar first.
South Coast Farms U-Pick
A small family farm that grows on the fields at Tree of Life Nursery on Ortega Highway, and one of the very few Southern California u-picks that farm directories list as running year-round rather than for a single season. Picking is walk-up and unfussy, with no reservations needed, and what is out in the rows shifts with the month instead of following one headline crop. It is the least documented option here: the farm posts current hours and prices to social media rather than to a website, so confirm what is open before driving down.
Carlsbad Strawberry Company
Twenty-five acres of strawberries right off the 5 in Carlsbad, farmed by the same family for four generations, and the biggest late-winter opening on this list: the season typically starts in February and the field is then open every day of the week. Admission is tiered depending on whether you want a picking bucket, and the ticket also covers a sunflower maze, a tricycle track and other things to keep small children busy away from the rows. It is the furthest south of these farms, a real haul from Long Beach, and February openings move with the weather, so the first weeks of the season are always a gamble.
Gerry Ranch Berries
A three-generation family blueberry farm in the hills of Santa Rosa Valley outside Camarillo, and one of the earliest blueberry openings in Southern California: the fields open in February, weeks ahead of most berry farms. Picking is deliberately low-key, with containers provided, no reservations and wide, stroller-friendly paths, and the setting is quiet in a way the big farm-attraction operations are not. The catch is unpredictability: opening day depends on winter chill, and the ranch posts each week's hours to Instagram rather than publishing a fixed schedule, so there is no planning far ahead.
How we researched this
The test for every farm was its published picking season: if the dates don't reach into winter, the farm isn't here, however often it is recommended the rest of the year. The Ecology Center's 2026 season started March 13, Sunmist Estate's u-pick season runs April 18 to October 31, 2026, and McGrath Family Farm says picking typically starts around April 15th; Manassero Farms is not a winter pick either, and Riley's Farm and the apple, pumpkin and lavender farms are fall or summer seasons. Kenny's Strawberry Farm was left out because its site contradicts itself about when it opens, Gless Ranch and Thacker Berry Farms are fruit stands rather than picking fields, and the Ojai Pixie tangerine growers do not allow public visitors. Two year-round citrus farms, Bar 2 Ranch and Sunsets & Citrus Family Farm, had no website to confirm an address and hours, and a Cal Poly Pomona citrus u-pick couldn't be confirmed on any university page.
Tanaka's winter cells rest on news coverage of a past January, since the farm's own site shows no winter season, and Moorpark's crop calendar still carries a 2022 label though it is the one the farm publishes. The blank Open Days at South Coast means its days vary with the fields, and Gerry Ranch's blank Cost means it prints no price. Every date here was read in September 2026, and La Verne's January 10 opening belongs to the 2026 season, so treat each one as last winter's pattern until the farm posts the next.