| Author | Post |
|---|
QCVillager
Member
|
Posted: Sat May 3rd, 2008 02:36 pm |
|
| Peach Pie - mmmmmmm -YUM!
|
QCVillager
Member
|
Posted: Sat May 3rd, 2008 02:36 pm |
|
Schnepf Farms ready for a peachy harvest
By MARTIN CIZMAR TRIBUNE CONTACT WRITER: (480) 898-5695 or mcizmar@evtrib.com
It’s impossible for him to prove, but Mark Schnepf thinks the peaches picked at his farm this weekend will be some of the first harvested in America.
“Arizona has the first peaches in the country,” he said. “And we’re the biggest grower in the state, and grow some of the fastest-growing varieties, which others don’t, so these are the first.”
Visitors to Schnepf Farms can pick their own peaches starting this weekend as the Queen Creek tourist attraction kicks off its harvest season. Next weekend, the annual Peach Festival begins.
The festival was the first step the farm took toward agritourism. Though it’s since been eclipsed in size by the farm’s Halloween event, which draws more than 100,000 people, it will forever hold a special spot in the family’s heart, Schnepf said. His wife, Carrie, came up with the idea for the festival, and started it out with you-pick peaches ($1.75 a pound this year) and a table of peach foods.
“My mom was at a 6-foot table and about 10,000 people showed up,” Carrie Schnepf said. “We were picked clean in a half-hour.”
Now, they’re ready for the hordes with 20 peachy items for sale, a couple of hundred cases of each on hand. Visitors park in lots away from the orchards and take a hayride to the trees.
It all makes for quite the scene, said Mark Schnepf.
When he was growing up on the farm — which then comprised about 3,000 acres of owned and leased land — the goal was to get the first peaches to market as soon as possible, when the best price was had, said Schnepf. Workers braved weeds and mud to pluck the peaches. Now, a tractor smooths things down so families can walk without dirtying their shoes.
“It’s a completely different market, so you have to cater to that,” he said.
Schnepf Farms
Peach Festival
What: Peaches, rides, games
When: You-pick open from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays. Peach Festival open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. May 10-11, 17-18 and 24-25
Where: 24810 S. Rittenhouse Road, Queen Creek
Cost: $2 during festival, free during youpick-only days
Information: (480) 987-3100 or www. schnepffarms.com
KEEN ON PEACHES: Mark Schnepf, left, and Carrie Schnepf taste peaches in the family’s orchard as they prepare for this year’s Peach Festival at Schnepf Farms in Queen Creek. TIM HACKER, TRIBUNE
|
Current time is 08:45 pm | |
|
|
|