Most pick-your-own fruit farms provide the chance to fill a box or bucket with one type of fruit. Not Romero’s Fruit Orchard in New Iberia.
Back in the ’80s, retired sugar cane farmer Eddie Romero had a specific vision for a U-pick farm. He planted his first fig and peach trees in 1986, adding various fruits—and varieties within those fruits—each year. Today, about 500 trees, shrubs and vines produce 20 different fresh fruits that Romero raises with very few, if any, chemicals, he says.
Stock photo
“I’ve got a fruit jungle,” Romero jokes.
The list reads like a supermarket produce section. There are blackberries, blueberries, peaches, figs, muscadines, pears, persimmons and satsumas. Romero grows apples in the fall—Anna, Dorsett and Ein Shemer varieties that perform well in Southern climates. Along with the muscadines, he grows seedless table grapes that are great for snacking. And he grows pawpaws, a tree native to North America with fruit that tastes like a cross between a banana and a pineapple, Romero says.
The farm opens yearly in April, with different fruits ripening as the spring, summer and fall unfold. Blackberries, blueberries and peaches kick things off, followed by figs, pawpaws and pears. Persimmons and muscadines emerge in the fall, followed by citrus in winter. Romero keeps customers updated on which fruits are available—or have been fully picked—through social media.
Romero says visitors often ask, “When is the best time to plant a fruit tree?”
“I tell them 20 years ago,” he laughs.
Romero’s Fruit Orchards
5119 Freetown Road,
New Iberia
Opens in April. Closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Call ahead to confirm availability. Orchard provides buckets or boxes, depending on the type of fruit. Find it on Facebook
Spring is for strawberries
How to enjoy Louisiana’s most iconic fruit
Strawberry picking
Strawberries taste even better when you’ve picked them yourself. A few U-pick farms to plug into your Google Maps app: Landry-Poche Farm in Holden; Mrs. Heather’s Farms in Albany; and Blahut Strawberry Farm in Holden. Call in advance to confirm availability and hours.
Ponchatoula Strawberry Festival
April 8-10, 2022 North Sixth and West Beech
streets in Ponchatoula
After being canceled by COVID-19 two years in a row, the annual event makes its triumphant return—celebrating its 50th year, in fact. Vendors showcase strawberries in everything from desserts to drinks against a backdrop of other festivities. Don’t miss the chance to pick up fresh strawberries from area growers. lastrawberryfestival.com
This article was originally published in the December 2021 issue of 225 magazine.
