A Flurry of Round Peaches, Last Chance Flat Peaches; First Apples of the True Harvest; Prepicked Peach Peck Sale; Assorted U-Pick Veggies, Flowers, and Herbs; Now Open Tuesday-Sunday 9:00 to 7:00.

– FRESH CROP ALERT –

U-Picking

Round peaches • Flat peaches (last chance) • Sansa apples • Flowers • Herbs • Peppers • Some eggplant, tomatoes

Shopping

Huge Peach Peck Sale, only $26/peck while supplies last • Apples • Eggplant • Peppers • Flowers • Garlic • Scapes • Blueberries • Slushies • Coffee • Mugs • Honey • Lip balm • Lotion • Beeswax • Syrup • Pottery • Potted herbs • Potted fruit trees • Fresh donuts Thursday-Sunday 11 AM to 5 PM

Business

See current hours on home page
See map & tips & safety in 2022 Farm Guide
Drive extra carefully on highway & farm
Thank you for being kind & nice

– FULL STORY –

DEAR FARMKETEERS: Please let this peach rise like a Sunday sun over your personal planet. Kind greetings to ‘Creekniks and would-be Farm Fans worldwide!

U-PICK ROUND PEACHES: There is another flurry to pick this weekend, and by flurry we mean neither wave nor surge nor blast nor gush nor onslaught nor stampede – and definitely not bumrush – but just a modest sprinkle ‘n’ twinkle of peaches for the picking. It’s a smaller crop this year, and first come, first get. Please ask at the stand and we’ll direct you to the booty.

U-PICK DONUT PEACHES = LAST CHANCE IN 2022. Y’all ‘Creekniks went loopy on the main crop over the past couple weeks. Bravo and hallelujah. A few lucky and/or assiduous pickers will get donut peaches this weekend. There is one partial row to pick. There is no more after those are gone. We do not have a secret stash at Mar-a-Lago or anywhere else.

ROUND PEACH PECK SALE: ONLY $26/PECK for PREPICKED PEACHES AT THE STAND. That works out to only 13 two-dollar bills per box, or about 2 dollars per pound, i.e., cheaper than the u-pick price for a peck! All the drool, none of the labor. Note that the weight of pecks will vary a little, but they’re full up and ready to take home. A peck is something like 2 dry gallons or 8 dry quarts or 16 dry pints. The sale is while supplies last. That would seem to go without saying but inevitably someone will show up and, upon hearing that we are out of peach pecks, demand a peck of peaches that physically does not exist. Reportedly this metaphysical quandary is not unique to Indian Creek. A fellow New York farmer replied to last week’s newsletter citing the same behavior from their customers – I want the nonexistent vegetables! Give me the invisible rhubarb! Produce more tomatoes suddenly now! This apparent repudiation of science/facts could be rich fodder for a social science Ph.D. thesis investigating cultural norms of the @)@@ zeitgeist. That’s “2022” with the shift key held down. Doctoral level symbology, deep conspiracy stuff.

U-PICK SANSA APPLES. One of the best early apples, sweet and nice. Also known as Morioka #42. Sansa marks the beginning of “real” apple season. Sure, we’ve picked the Pristines and eaten one or two William’s Prides, but Sansa is the first really fun apple of the year. The apples have a tropical coloring, bright red – almost pink and almost orange – and they are lightly flecked with a gold russet. The creamy white flesh has the simple sweetness of a Gala (one of its parents) balanced by the acidity of Akane (the other parent). The flesh is firm, almost woody, and it’s nothing like the trendy expolsiveness of a Honeycrisp, but it is, nevertheless, deeply satisfying. These apples are for fresh eating; they do not store for more than one month. Sansa was the result of a collaboration of researchers in Japan and New Zealand. In 1969, a team of Japanese researchers in Morioka sent the pollen of an Akane tree to Dr. Don McKenzie in Havelock North, New Zealand. This pollen was used to fertilize a Gala, and the seeds of the offspring were sent back to Japan, where the new variety was evaluated for almost 20 years before its release in 1988. If only all international relations had such happy outcomes. And no scurrilous diplomatic cables!

HOW TO PICK AN APPLE. This would be a good time to read our Farm School tutorial, How to Pick An Apple. Prime time is right round the corner.

FRESH DONUTS! Served Thursday through Sunday 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Yes, with increasing verve and vigor and zeal as autumn approaches, 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. No donuts served on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, when the Mark 2 Donut Robot observes its lavish Cyborg Sabbath. Amen.

U-PICK FLOWERS. The u-pick field is right next to the farm stand and parking lot! Use scissors instead of ripping and tearing at flowers with your bare hands. Thank you!

U-PICK SWEET PEPPERS AND HOT PEPPERS. Come browse the pepper patch. Currently ready are sweet peppers and the first of the hot peppers – jalapeños and Hungarians and more. Other hots will be ripening in the weeks ahead. Also get yours at the farm stand.

SCATTERED U-PICK TOMATOES. A few beefsteak, heirloom, cherry, roma, and randoms to pick. Not enough u-pick tomatoes for bulk picking. Just come explore.

COFFEE! First time ever, you can get a cup of coffee at the farmstand. We are brewing from hometown roaster, Ithaca Coffee Company, and you can serve yourself. No lattes, no pumpkin spice, no ice. Just a simple cuppa for your agritourism adventure. Self-serve kiosk next to the hole-in-the-wall donut shoppe. (New tumblers keep stuff hot or cold forever!)

NEW BUS STOP = INDIAN CREEK! Take your public transportation right to your u-pick destination. TCAT has moved the bus stop to directly in front of the farm, so anyone can take the #21 from town to our doorstep. You want to avoid using the #14, which ends at the hospital requiring a walk on the highway. Be safe!

DRIVE SAFELY! We have witnessed several terrible, high-speed collisions on Route 96 by the farm in recent years. Please approach the farm carefully, exit the farm carefully, and drive SLOWwwLY when you are on the farm!

A Drivers Education
REMINDER

Entering from Ithaca

Indian Creek Farm is 1/2 mile north of the Cayuga Medical Center traffic light. We are on the left, just after the Dubois Road intersection, as you come over the rise. The farm entrance comes up quickly. There is no need to increase speed to 55 MPH. Stay slow to keep the cars behind you slow. Use your TURN SIGNAL well before the turn. We have watched people stop to turn into the farm without using their signal.

While on Farm

Please drive slowly. There is no hurry. You are on vacation while on the farm. There are kids and folks of all ages walking around the farm. Take it easy.

Exiting

Do not pull out if you can even see a car coming. Assume the car is speeding and that you will get hit.

Be patient, an opening will come.