Picking Peaches

Last year, when my sister came to visit, our family discovered one of our favorite things about living out here in Queen Creek--our proximity to Schnepf Farms and its Pick-Your-Own-Peaches time! Schnepf Farms is an actual working farm (it's also home to a lot of outdoor festivals and events, including the 10K run I did in Februrary), and is only about 5 miles from our home. So, upon learning that peach-picking time was upon us, we loaded our family in the car and headed to Schnepf last Friday.

For $1.75/lb., you can have the joy of traversing their acres of ripe peach trees, picking off the perfect peaches to later be turned into any number of peach delights--ours, in fact, became a scrumptious peach cobbler. The best part--as you enter the groves of ripe fruit, the smiling attendant reminds you, "Eat as many as you like while you're out there; we only weigh your box, not you." Woo-hoo! You don't have to tell us twice!

Sarah especially got in on the fun, eating near her weight in peaches that she giddily plucked from the lower branches. Each time we returned to the box with arms laden with peaches, Sarah's eyes nearly popped from her head as she exclaimed, "More Peaches!" But, Sweet Sarah is not without gratitude for such blessings--with a wave of her sticky hands, she loudly proclaimed as we left the fields, "Bye trees! Bye! Thanks for the peaches!! See ya!!" We plan to return next Friday to sample a different variety of peach that will come ripe this week. I'm even considering my hand at canning, but I'm sure a cobbler or pie will also make it onto our weekend menu. I just hope that I remember to thank the trees as I leave next time! =)