U-pick farms near Sebastian — Sebastian, Florida

The u-pick farms closest to Sebastian are in Indian River County around Vero Beach, led by Schacht Groves for citrus and Countryside Citrus for strawberries and flowers.

Schacht Groves is the citrus option. The grove at 6100 12th Street in Vero Beach runs a U-Pick season from November 1 to April 1, open Fridays and Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., with hours subject to change based on fruit availability (Schacht Groves). Its site states that U-Pick is closed for the season and will return in November 2026. The farm says it was founded in 1950 by Henry H. Schacht, a traveling salesman who settled on 50 acres, and its market is open Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. (Schacht Groves).

Countryside Citrus covers berries and flowers. The Indian River County citrus grower runs U-Pick strawberry and flower patches, with the strawberry patch open for picking in winter and the flower patch, planted with sunflowers, marigolds and wildflowers, in spring (Countryside Citrus). It asks visitors to call the Farm Store at 772-581-8217 or check its social media for daily patch openings and closings.

Summer is off season for both. Countryside's Farm Store closes for the summer, while its beach location at 3300 Ocean Drive in Vero Beach stays open (Countryside Citrus). For a family in Sebastian, that means the u-pick calendar starts with the cooler weather in November and fades by late spring.

Around Sebastian, u-pick citrus runs November 1 to April 1, strawberries come in over the winter and peak in February and March, and flower picking follows in spring.

Citrus rotates through the season. Schacht Groves lists Bingo mandarins, Fallglo tangerines, Sugarbelle tangelos, Temples, Murcotts and Valencias among its u-pick fruit, and says availability varies through the season so each visit offers something different (Schacht Groves). UF/IFAS EDIS HS132 places Fallglo among the very early varieties in October and November, Temple and Murcott in late midseason from January to March, and Valencia late, from March to June (UF/IFAS EDIS), which explains why a November trip from Sebastian brings tangerines and a March trip brings oranges.

Strawberries follow Florida's cool season. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says February and March are the peak months for eating strawberries in Florida, when many areas hold strawberry festivals, and that Florida strawberries grow best in the cooler months (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions). Berries picked when at least three-fourths red are ready, and they do not sweeten after picking, so a Sebastian family picking at Countryside gets the sweetest fruit by choosing fully colored berries.

Citrus dominates u-pick near Sebastian because Indian River County grew up as citrus and cattle country, and the remaining family groves now open their rows to pickers in winter.

The county's own extension office puts it plainly: UF/IFAS Extension Indian River County says the county has a history rich in agriculture, notably in cattle and citrus (UF/IFAS Extension Indian River County). Both u-pick operators near Sebastian tie themselves to that history. Countryside Citrus describes its family as growers, harvesters and shippers of citrus in the Indian River region (Countryside Citrus), and Schacht Groves describes its U-Pick as a hands-on way to experience Indian River County citrus at its peak.

The grove calendar sets the dates. Schacht Groves says its citrus season changes through the year, offering a rotating selection of fruit as each variety comes ready. For pickers from the Sebastian Highlands or Roseland, the short drive south on US 1 or Interstate 95 lands in groves that still work the same Indian River fruit that built the county's agriculture.

Fresh fruit is only part of it. Schacht Groves pairs u-pick with a market selling fresh-squeezed juice and citrus goods, and its events calendar lists a fall festival on Nov. 14 and monthly grove tours through the winter of 2026 and 2027 (Schacht Groves). Countryside Citrus lists a fall festival and maze, field trips and the Indian River Citrus Festival among its farm events (Countryside Citrus).

U-pick fields near Sebastian fall under Florida's agritourism law, which treats picking one's own crop as an agritourism activity and requires a posted warning sign in exchange for limits on the farm's liability.

Picking is defined as agritourism. Section 570.86 of the Florida Statutes defines an agritourism activity as any agricultural activity on a bona fide farm that lets the public view or enjoy farming for recreation, entertainment or education, expressly including activities in which visitors harvest crops themselves, whether or not the participant paid (Florida Statutes 570.86). The inherent risks it lists include surface and subsurface conditions, natural conditions of land and vegetation, animal behavior and ordinary farm equipment, the conditions found in an Indian River County grove row or strawberry field.

Signs carry legal weight at every Indian River County u-pick. Section 570.89 requires each agritourism operator to post a notice of inherent risk at the entrance and at the site of the activity, in black letters at least 1 inch high (Florida Statutes 570.89), and says a farm that fails to post loses the statute's immunity. Section 570.88 provides that, with the notice posted, an operator is not liable for injuries resulting from the inherent risks, but keeps liability for gross negligence, willful or wanton disregard for safety, or intentional injury (Florida Statutes 570.88). Last verified: October 10, 2026, on the Florida Legislature website.

The practical result at a farm gate near Sebastian is a black-lettered warning at the entrance and picking rules set by the grower. Schacht Groves says its u-pick hours change with fruit availability, and Countryside Citrus posts daily strawberry patch openings and closings.

Sebastian gardeners can grow strawberries as a cool-season annual and, with acid soil and two compatible cultivars, southern highbush blueberries, following UF/IFAS guidance.

Strawberries go in during fall in Sebastian. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions gives Central Florida planting dates of September 25 to October 25 and South Florida dates of October 1 to December 1, recommends spacing transplants 10 to 18 inches apart, and says the first berries are ready roughly 90 to 110 days after planting (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions). Florida-friendly cultivars it names include 'Sweet Charlie', 'Camarosa', 'Chandler', 'Oso Grande', 'Selva' and 'Festival', and it notes that Florida commercial production is concentrated on more than 11,000 acres in west-central Florida.

Blueberries need more setup. Gardening Solutions says southern highbush types suit locations south of Ocala and north of Sebring, that most cultivars need cross-pollination from another cultivar of the same type, and that soil should test between pH 4 and 5.5 with at least 18 inches of well-drained depth (UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions). UF/IFAS suggests peat moss or pine bark to build the acidic, organic soil blueberries need on sandy Sebastian lots, with a soil test first. Strawberry and blueberry plants for Sebastian gardens are available among the berry plants on Digital Towns Market. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace.

Local help is close by. Master Gardener volunteers with UF/IFAS Extension Indian River County test soil pH and answer garden questions, and hold a Wednesday morning clinic in Sebastian at the North Indian River County Library on Sebastian Boulevard (UF/IFAS Extension), a useful first stop before planting a blueberry bed.