In anticipation of being the proud owner of at least four pints of fresh, hand-picked, New Mexico-grown organic raspberries, I headed to Heidi's Raspberry Farm in Corrales last weekend for the first of what I hoped would be many relaxing Sunday afternoons spent frolicking through fields upon fields of plump berries; rubbing elbows with like-minded day trippers; and swapping jam recipes and canning tips with ...

OK, that's a total lie. I just wanted to feel unbound from my laptop and "currently away from my phone" for a little while, and I thought this berry adventure might be a value-added change of pace and scenery compared to my usual Sunday outing, which basically consists of sleeping in and shopping for dog food.

An easy jaunt from Santa Fe by car with the promise of dessert literally shooting out of the ground in sweet, tangy, ruby-red clumps seemed like a great idea, even at four bucks for each pint of raspberries plus the cost of fuel. In my case, the quest for great raspberries played out along a crowded road paved with good intentions — but very few raspberries.

I learned a few important lessons during my journey:

• Never wear heavy blue jeans and a long-sleeved, dark-colored shirt to an outdoor, nonshaded raspberry-picking event when the mercury's in the mid-80s; sunscreen would've been smart, too.

• When the first day of picking for the public starts at 9 a.m. and you don't arrive until 1 p.m., don't pretend every child and parent within a 100-mile radius hasn't already been to Heidi's Raspberry Farm and decimated its bounty. In fact, the farm has been so completely ravaged that, an hour after your picking adventure begins, you and your travel companion are left squinting, hyperventilating and thorn-scratched from fingers to elbows after trying to fill just one 1-pint basket with tiny, barely-ripe berries that might actually be small insects covered in your own sangre de grumpy pants.

• You're not the only one with the bright idea to go later in the day, "when it's not so busy."

• You stink at picking raspberries. Just go back to sleeping in late and turning off your phone.

While I was being chased by honey bees, silently being judged for my meager berry-selection skills by more experienced pickers (I saw you snickering lady, don't deny it), and being interrogated by the children of complete strangers ("Why are you wearing long sleeves — aren't you hot?"), I vowed that I would return to Heidi's farm next Sunday — early in the morning this time, of course — after bigger and better fruit had ripened and when I would have the sweet acreage almost entirely to myself.

I hauled my embarrassingly anemic-looking berries and/or blood bugs up to a card table to pay for them (and to buy some raspberry jam), and while doing so I bumped into the one-and-only Heidi Eleftheriou, owner and co-operator of Heidi's Raspberry Farm.

Heidi had some bad news. I wasn't sure I had heard her correctly, and I put the conversation out of my mind until Monday, when I'd e-mail her and certainly discover that I had misunderstood her (due to self-inflicted heat stroke, most likely). Unfortunately, I had heard her message loud and clear.

Because the turnout last Sunday was so large (500-600 people by Heidi's estimates, but I put it at more around 4,000 — mostly kids and bees), and due to a rapidly expanding wholesale business that now requires the farm to harvest and freeze more berries to satisfy its orders throughout the winter, there will be no more pick-it-yourself days at Heidi's farm this year.

In an e-mail sent to the Fork on Monday, Heidi sincerely apologized to all hopeful day-trippers and pickers who were planning a visit to the farm this fall saying, "I am inundated with phone calls and e-mails from disappointed raspberry pickers ... I am sorry ... We are planning on planting more acreage further south and hopefully will have u-pick-your-own open all picking season (in the fall harvest seasons to come)." In the meantime, you can purchase Heidi's raspberry jams (the raspberry red chile jam is my favorite) in Santa Fe at Whole Foods Market (753 Cerrillos Road, 992-1700; and 1090 S. St. Francis Drive, 983-5333), La Montanita Co-op (913 W. Alameda St., 984-2852), Kaune's Neighborhood Market (511 Old Santa Fe Trail, 982-2629), the Santa Fe Farmers Market (Paseo de Peralta at South Guadalupe Street in the Railyard), and on the Web site at www.heidisraspberryjam.com.

But don't fret about the fleeting framboise season, New Mexico raspberry lovers. If you still want to pick your own, Salman Raspberry Ranch north of Las Vegas, N.M., in La Cueva still has pick-your-own days, and farmers there tell me the crop is approaching peak ripeness (a hailstorm wiped out much of the first round of plantings, but the second round is lookin' great). Berries at Salman Ranch are $5 per pound if you pick them yourself, and picking times are 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday up until first frost for the region, which is usually mid- to late-October. Call 575-387-2900, toll free 866-281-1515, or visit www.salmanraspberryranch.com for directions, a map and ranch details. And get there early. With sunscreen.

Are you running with a fork, too? Send tips on what's happening in the local food and restaurant scenes to Rob DeWalt at rdewalt@sfnewmexican.com.