Picking Peaches

I didn't bring my camera, because there are outings you want your hands free to play with your kids.

Yesterday was the beginning of the Peach Festival. It was our first time making it to Green Bluffs for one of their events. At first, we were lost. The drive was beautiful and we kept seeing family farms, but no "festival".  I knew Green Bluffs was a collection of farmers set up in a U-Pick fashion, but I assumed a festival meant there was some sort of gathering place. So, we kept driving. Down the road, we saw a large barn with an event sign and a large arrow. I was a giggling school girl. Nick just grinned, watching me from the corner of his eye, and tried to keep his chuckling to himself.

We had found High Country farm. This was a farm, like the rest, but did more to attract tourist or people who were too nervous to go knock on a random farmer's door (like us). The large barn was a gift shop, bakery, ice cream parlor, a small produce market out front, and two play grounds (one for older children and one for younger). Rilie actually found a slide that was a bit intimating for him... unfortunately, he realized this while he was going down and tried clinging to the side... this did not work as well as planned. A big hug from dad and he moved on to the tire swing. The gift shop was full of kitchen decor, home made goods, rustic or antique farm art, etc. They had two large antique pieces, one was a light blue stove... the other... I'm not sure what it was, but it was big! My mom would have died! They made their own waffle cones (not sure about the ice cream). The waffle cones had just come out and Nick had to have one! We tried huckleberry, peach (everyone's favorite), and Moose Tracks. The pies in the window were picture perfect... not the store bought look, but looked like a grandmother tenderly rolled out the crust, formed it with her aged fingers, and stamped out a simple delicate pattern on top.

I spoke with one of the ladies running the gift shop. She explained how Green Bluffs works: Look online for what is in season, call the farmer about a time to come pick, then show up. The term "festival" is used loosely for the peach & strawberry season. The big "to do" around there was the Cherry Festival (July) and Apple/Pear Festival (September). The peaches hadn't quite ripened in time for the festival, so they haven't been taking people back in the orchard. But, she saw our adorable brood and said she knew where some peaches were and she'd take us back there. We all climbed on her tractor and headed out to the orchard. She showed us which peaches to look for - the big ones with mostly red blush on them. They would need to stay on the counter 2 - 3 days to soften, but would still taste great! When she heard we were from AK and haven't had a peach fresh from the tree, she told us we all needed to try one right then and there! They tasted wonderful! They were hard like an apple, but smelled and tasted like heaven! Rilie follows the toddler code of needing to have one in each hand. It didn't take long to have half a box full. I put them in a rubber container, because Rilie will continue to sample them before they are soft. This morning, I opened the container and was hit with a wall of sweet peach aroma. The boys had to come take a whiff as well. Now, they are sitting on the window sill softening up. We can't wait!