U Pick Peaches returns to per-pound pricing | Midday Report

Chico State’s annual U Pick Peaches, so popular that it sold out early last year, will return Wednesday at the University Farm.

The 2023 event used a flat fee instead of per-pound pricing as in other years. This year’s cost is $3 per pound.

Community members can pick fruit from trees in the farm’s orchard starting at 8 a.m. The event is first-come, first-served and ends at noon or until the fruit runs out. The farm provides bags and boxes.

For real-time updates on availability, call the Peach Hotline at 530-898-4989.

“Beyond offering affordable, locally grown fruit, this event fosters community engagement and showcases the diverse educational opportunities available at the University Farm,” said Kevin  Renker, the farm’s row crops specialist, in the university’s announcement.

The peach variety once again is the Fay Elberta, which the farm describes as “a large, yellow-skinned freestone with a slight red blush, good shape and nice flavor” that is popular with canners.

Proceeds will go to the College of Agriculture’s orchard program. In addition to the peaches event, the farm will sell fresh corn and have the meats lab open for purchases, both also from 8 a.m. to noon.

Culinary events

New iterations of Taste of Chico and Sierra Oro Farm Trail are set for this fall.

Re-envisioned as Taste of Downtown: Restaurant and Pub Crawl, the annual Chico food event will be Sept. 8 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., capped by a free concert in City Plaza. The Sierra Oro Farm Trail Farm-to-Fork Experience and Dinner will be Oct. 6 at Book Family Farm in Chico; the pumpkin patch and marketplace will open at 2 p.m., and the dinner will start at 5.

Taste of Downtown will feature over 30 local restaurants and pubs sampling “bites and sips” (i.e., dishes and drinks). Local band Low Flying Birds will headline the concert, and other musicians will perform throughout downtown during the tastings.

Visit downtownchico.com, Thursday Night Market or Friday Night Concerts for taste tickets.

For the farm-to-fork event, visit tinyurl.com/SOFT2024 to RSVP and for tickets and sierraoro.org to learn more about the organizers.

Farm plans

The Glenn County Resource Conservation District seeks farmers and ranchers interested in establishing a conservation plan or carbon plan for their land.

According to the RCD’s announcement, the conservation planning will focus on soil management; it ” identifies the customer’s conservation objectives and assesses and analyzes the natural resources issues on that customer’s land related to soil, water, animals, plants, air, energy and human interaction.” A Carbon Farm Plan is similar but “maximizes carbon capture into the soil and into vegetation to boost farm productivity.”

Glenn County ag-land owners can learn more at glenncountyrcd.org or 530-701-6209.