Chico State University

Each year in August the College of Agriculture department hosts a U-Pick Peach Event.

Picture a perfect early August morning. The air is still crisp from the night before, but the morning sun is working fast to heat the day. You follow a slow parade of cars kicking up dust down a long dirt road. A pasture with black and white cattle graze on dry grass to your left. Further up the road, you can make out acres of healthy and full green fruit trees. Traffic comes to a stop, cars park, and families grab cardboard boxes, crates, or bags, and disburse into the thick of the peach orchard, followed by the sound of their green metal utility cart’s rattling wheels.  Get lost in the sea of low-growing peach trees, their branches bowing heavily with fruit. Listen to the laughter of families with children giddy to discover the most perfect peaches to take home as their treasure. All along the rows of trees, there is quality control, as the reward of sweet and sticky peach juice drips down smiling faces.  It’s a full emersion of fruit picking delight.

Knowing where your food comes from is a great reminder of the work that the farmers, field laborers, and harvesters do to bring food to our tables. And that real fresh food just tastes better. And since you’ve picked them yourself, it guarantees the freshest and best bite of peach you’ve ever had.

So. Many. Peaches.

This year, the popular variety of Elberta peaches (best for canning) were $2 a pound, pick as many as you like.  The proceeds go to the department, and the peaches go into our bellies!

There are certain tastes of summer that bring back memories of your childhood. And if you were lucky, you had a grandmother who made peach cobbler.  Served warm and sweet with ice-cold melty vanilla ice cream. A lick the bowl kind of good memory

So many peaches. What to make? A peach crumble, peach salad, grilled peaches, peach tart, peach sangria, peach daiquiri, peach pie, peach lemonade, peach salsa, peach ice cream, and the simplicity of a straight off the tree fresh fuzzy juicy peach fruit itself.

Not wanting any of the 30 lbs of peaches we hauled home to go bad, I started in right away with the peach desserts.  Peach crumble the first night (and for breakfast the next morning) Peach cobbler after that. Peaches with vanilla ice cream.  A peach Panzanella salad next.  I blanched and sliced several pounds for the freezer. We ate a ton!  And then the peach pièce de résistance…THE PEACH & PEPPER JAM!