Peach Picking at Schnepf Farms

With visions of successfully canning fresh peaches and making peach jam in my mind, I headed out to Schnepf Farms with my kids, my friend, and three of her kids to pick organic peaches right off the trees.  The peaches smelled incredible.  The kids had a blast.

As one of the larger farms in the Valley, Schnepf Farms has a lot of amenities and hosts many events throughout the year.  Since we went during the week, most of the extras were closed.  I was disappointed not to be able to enjoy the peach sampling tent, but I didn't care that we were missing the amusement park-style rides.  There's a large play area on site that all of the kids, ranging in age from 4 to 14, thoroughly enjoyed.  Because Schnepf has a restaurant and a store on site, they do not allow outside food.

We each ended up taking about 20 pounds of peaches home.  Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to successfully skin and pit the peaches in order to can them, and fresh, ripe peaches do not have a very long shelf life.  If you are going to go out picking, either limit the number of pounds you pick or be sure you are going to be able to get them canned or frozen promptly.