PRISTINE APPLES & JALAPEÑOS POPPING! A Quiet Weekend in Peachtown; Pick Your Own Summer Apples, Hot & Sweet Peppers, Culinary Herbs to Spark Your Domestic Kitchen; Donuts & Slushees Daily.

– SUMMARY –

U-pick apples • U-pick hot peppers • U-pick sweet peppers • U-pick herbs • Brief pause in U-pick peaches (you picked the first round clean!) • Open 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM every day rain or shine • Fresh donuts every day 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM except Monday • Shop for peaches, apples, peppers, cherry tomatoes, garlic, eggplant, slushees, flowers, honey, syrup, pottery, and more • COVID: Farm stand staff are vaccinated, and current protocols include: (1) We are not requiring masks since the farm is an outdoor experience, (2) We recommend that unvaccinated people wear masks, (3) Practice social distancing under the covered porch area, (4) These protocols could change during the season • Drive slowly on the farm • Thank you

– FULL STORY –

DEAR FARMKETEERS: Last week, in accord with our annual tradition, we sounded the Horn, er, Hen of Plenty to signal the dawn of peach picking and an abundant local harvest. This fomented such a ferment – commonly called a “bumrush” in the farmland vernacular – that you stripped the trees clean within a couple days. For such exemplary locavoric exuberance, we offer our heartiest thanks. This weekend, we predict a quiet time in Peachtown as the next wave gets ready.

U-PICK PEACHES = brief pause. Sometimes people look at pictures and don’t read, or otherwise find our approach to corporate messaging nonsensical/difficult to decipher (special apologies to ESL folks!), so this picture was included for the “visual learners” in our readership.

Behind the scenes, the peaches are primping for next week, the start of High Peach Season which should last a couple good weeks. They are trimming their fuzzy ‘dos with help from fashionista eggplants, who also are in short supply on the U-pick vines til further notice. Please stay tuned to these Fresh Crop Alerts for news of the next wave of peaches and eggplants. Pro tip: Facebook and Instagram followers often score emergent tipoffs between newsletters.

PEACHTOWN = sad chapter. During this meditative time between peach waves, an image to contemplate. This road sign in nearby Cayuga County speaks of Chonodote. “As remorseless as a cannon shot, the axe levelled every tree though burdened with its loads of luscious fruit, and the freshly ripened corn was gathered only to be destroyed. At 10 o’clock A. M., the torch was applied to the dwellings, and as the crackling flames lifted their fiery heads over this scene of havoc and destruction.”

U-PICK APPLES = PRISTINE. They are the first real apple-ish apples of the year. Lovely lemon-yellow orbs of fruitological blushitude. Descendants of the venerable McIntosh and Golden Delicious varieties. Perfect for eating fresh, saucing, and cooking. Easy to pick in Row 10 of the Dwarf Orchard. Easy as pie. Tart, crisp, juicy, and firm. And isn’t that blush prettier than a store-bought doll? True foodies will branch out from Granny Smith and Honeycrisp to try Pristines and other summer apples. Not shaming, just SAYING.

U-PICK JALAPEÑOS = NOW. The plants are bursting with jalapeños, please come pick! The much-anticipated moment is NOW! As it is with your life, so it is with U-pick jalapeños. Carpe ‘peños!

U-PICK SWEET PEPPERS & HOT PEPPERS = Go time to come pick. Bell peppers, frying peppers, cayennes, jalapeños, serranos, and more. The hots are not red yet, that comes later in the growing season.

FRESH DONUTS = daytime snack. You can get fresh donuts every day 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM except Monday. We’ve said it before, and it might be true: This is a revolution in small farm fryer logistics. Six days a week, the Mark 2 Donut Robot is churning out fresh fried rings of fructotic splendor – sprinkled, if you like, with cinnamon sugar. “A sprinkle of sin, sugar,” is all you have to say. Again, no donuts on Mondays, when the Mark 2 Donut Robot observes its Cyborg Sabbath. Amen.

U-PICK HERBS = open every day. Basil, flat parsley, curly parsley, dill, cilantro, thyme, sage, oregano. The garden is right by the farm stand. This is a modest patch suitable for the Type B home chef who would pick a bag of mixed herbs for seasoning and dressing – not big enough for Type A pesto pickers.

MODEL ORCHARD LADDER TECHNIQUE. (1) Remain on lower rungs, (2) Maintain a poised athletic posture, (3) Have trusted assistant stabilize ladder. Pictured are NYC-based singer-songwriter and bridal designer Jamie Burke and musician-actor Sean O’Shea. “We make an annual trip upstate to check out the farm! Fell in love with it!! Can’t get enough of those donuts heehee.” Thank you, @itsjamieburke!

PEACH COBBLER = DROOL! Peach picking should start again soon! “Peach Time 🍑🍑 Love picking fruits for pies and dessert 😊 Always local 😊🍑 #indiancreekfarm #dolcedelight #ithacany #localfarmslocalfood “ Thank you for being SOOOO local, @dolcedelightithaca!