CHICO — Life was peachy at the Chico State University Farm Wednesday morning when hundreds turned out to pick their own fruit off of the trees at $3 a pound.
The U-Pick Peaches event is an annual tradition during which the university’s agriculture department lets members of the public in to scour the orchards with wagons and boxes. Kevin Renker, a crop technician with Chico State, said the event tends to draw out local families.
“We’ve just got the one variety of Faye Albertas today and everybody’s coming out to pick,” Renker said. “Kids come out to pick peaches and eat peaches. Sometimes more peaches get eaten than get into the box, but that’s what we’re doing today. Picking peaches and having a good time.”
Anna Coppage holds Josiah Coppage after he picks a peach off of a tree Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024 in Chico, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
Renker said earlier in the morning, the lines to buy peaches stretched out nearly 100 feet in either direction, often with full wagons.
With temperatures in the 70s Wednesday morning — and plenty of shade from the trees — conditions were optimal for foraging. Morgan Schill, a Chico State alumna, said four generations of her family have taken part in the event.
“My grandma’s been living in Chico since the ’70s when her husband went to Chico State, and then my mom later went, and then I went, and now we’ve got a fourth generation that’s living in the area,” Schill said. “We’re excited. We come for the pumpkin picking and the peach picking and then other events. It’s so nice.”
By 10:30 a.m., there were still plenty of peaches hanging off of the tree limbs and even more freshly fallen peaches on the ground. Parents raised their young children up to pick fruit one at a time and then load the fruit into boxes. Plenty of smiles could be seen down each aisle.
Maxine Keefer picks peaches Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024 in Chico, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
For many of the locals at the farm, picking peaches every year has been a tradition. Janice Logan, who was loading two boxes into the back of her SUV, said she’s been going for almost as long as the event has been held.
“It’s been wonderful. I think they’re going to sell out pretty quickly,” Logan said. “I’ve done this for however long they’ve been doing it — at least 25 years. I worked at the university years ago and at that point, it was just the university that could come out and do it. So I’ve been doing it for years now.”
Logan said she was happy with her haul on Wednesday.
“I love it,” Logan said. “Peaches are my favorite fruit, and it’s fun.”
Mike Defreitas and his family were walking to their car, wagons full of peaches.
Dave and Maggie Cox leave the peach orchard at the Chico State University Farm with their haul Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024 in Chico, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
“It’s pretty awesome,” Defreitas said. “It’s a nice area, the weather is very favorable today and the kids got to have fun.”
“It was fun,” Defreitas’s daughter Everley Defreitas added.
Since the event operates on a first-come, first-serve basis, Renker said in the morning that whether there would be a second day of peach picking depended on the stock left. The event ended at noon but employees and students would determine after if there would be enough left over to justify a second day.
“There might be a chance we may not be open tomorrow,” Renken said. “We just don’t know. We’ll look at it. We had a big crowd today and the first day the crowd is always extremely large.”
Renken said the crop was also affected by the weather this year.
A ripe peach, ready to be picked Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024 in Chico, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
“This year we were a little light on peaches,” Renken said. “We didn’t have a great bloom set because they were blooming in the rain so we had some set before the rain and then we had it rain so we had a bunch set after the rain. So some trees have a lot of fruit and some trees have nothing so that makes it a bit more challenging, especially when we have a large crowd come out.”
By early afternoon, the Peach Hotline had the news — with trees stripped of fruit it was a one-day event. Pickers will have to wait until next year to pluck more peaches at the University Farm.
Cheryl Downey hunts for peaches in the trees at the Chico State University Farm in Chico, California on Wednesday, Aug 14, 2024. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
Peaches line the ground at the Chico State University Farm on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2024 in Chico, California. (Jake Hutchison/Enterprise-Record)
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