Peach Picking

There is a real variety of fruit grown here in the US, with pretty much anything available due to the wide ranging climate. We had heard about Eckerts Farm & that they did 'pick-your-own'. Eckert’s Farms have been family-owned & operated since 1837 by seven generations of Eckerts, & they are the largest pick-your-own orchard operation in the United States. They started as a simple roadside stand in 1910 & now have farms in Belleville, Grafton, & Millstadt, all in Illinois. We went to the Belleville farm which is about half an hour from our house.

When you choose to do the pick-your-own, you are given a cardboard, open-topped, box with the type of fruit printed on it (in our case it was Eckerts Peaches). Then you climb on board an open-backed trailer pulled by a tractor that takes you through the orchard to where the fruit is. This was pretty cool as it made a change to be travelling in the open air, & because it was a fairly slow ride you were able to take in the surroundings & get a feel for the size of the orchard.

We were dropped off at a field with rows & rows of peach trees in & were able to pick as many peaches as we wanted or could carry! As the peaches were tree-ripened, they were really soft & juicy & literally just fell off the tree when you touched them.

After another tractor ride back to the farm buildings we weighed & paid for the peaches (Cheryl also bought a book filled with peach recipies) & then finished the day with a frozen custard from the Eckert’s Country Store.