About this time every summer, my daughter and I make an expedition to Green Bluff for peaches. Sometimes we just buy a few to eat, but sometimes we each buy a whole box. This year I really want to can a few peaches, so I bought a 22 pound box. It used to be cheaper to preserve one's own fruit than to buy it in cans in the store, but I'm not sure that's true any more. These peaches were $1.99/pound! The only real advantages to canning are 1) I know exactly what goes into the jar, and 2) if the world gets crazier than it already is, at least I will have a few jars of fruit on my shelf. One box won't go far, but if two or three boxes got ripe on the same day I might not have the energy to do the job; I'm not as young as I used to be, and need to take that into consideration.
Our first stop was Walter's Fruit Ranch, where rows of apple trees are loaded with apples still ripening. We bought peaches there. and my daughter bought some cherries.
The weather was pleasant and comfortable, a nice change from the week of upper 80s and 90s we've had. The clouds gave way to sunshine, and the day was lovely.
Our second stop was Eleven Acres, but we didn't buy anything there. I should have taken a photo of their huge greenhouse containing tomato plants that were as big as trees, and tomatoes the size of baseballs! These melons were at our third stop, the Harvest House.
We found both seedless and seeded watermelons, but we each chose to purchase a Sugar Baby watermelon, since we hadn't had one before. I haven't cut into mine yet.
Normally, most of this produce is displayed inside the main building. However, in the interest of maintaining "social distancing", much of it was moved to a tent outdoors. It makes a lot of sense, really, with or without the threat of a virus lurking; it was much less crowded in the tent, and easier to see what was available.
Not all of the produce sold at Green Bluff is grown at Green Bluff. Some of the orchards have peach trees, but others sell peaches (and other produce) grown elsewhere in the state. I am quite sure all of the melons came from other locations, as well as this stack of peaches.
Our fourth and final stop was High Country Orchards, which includes quite an elaborate gift-and-gadget shop. It's always fun to look it all over, and sometimes we get a treat or a snack there. But this time we just looked.
The drive to and from Green Bluff took us past fields of ripe wheat waving gently in the breeze. I shot this picture out of the window of the car on our way home.
But I must tell you a parting story about my granddaughter. She is almost 5, and is quite the drama queen. We were just a few miles from their home when she suddenly announced the need for a potty. We were on the freeway, and there was nowhere to stop. Her mother reassured her we would soon be home, and encouraged her to hang on. But she began to hyperventilate, and tears leaked out of her eyes, and the urgency of the situation was dramatically and repeatedly announced. I took a short video of her on my phone, to which she loudly objected. But once I stopped filming, she wanted to see it. That kept her busy until my daughter could pull over at a fast food place and rush her in to use the restroom. The whole incident was simultaneously hilarious and exasperating. Children are such characters!