Two days a year people may pick peaches at Chico State’s farm. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

I figured out the best thing I can do with 23 pounds of peaches is to just eat them. No cutting, no cooking, no canning.

OK, so while that is the best way to enjoy a peach, it’s not the only way.

But first, why are there so many peaches in the house? Because I finally made it to the u-pick peach event at the Chico State Farm.

This event has existed for about 30 years. For two days during the summer the public is invited to the farm to pick as many peaches as they want. At least I don’t think there is a limit.

I really bought more than I needed, but it was so much fun. I barely made a dent in what was available considering about 20,000 peaches were sold last year.

It’s so popular that some years they sell out. That’s why I went on the first day this year—July 28. I even skipped my usual tennis gig for peaches. It was worth it.

These aren’t free peaches. They are $3 a pound.

I realized I haven’t been around that many peach trees in my lifetime. What I didn’t expect was to see them growing in bunches, almost like a braid of peaches. I showed the picture to my mom and she had never seen such a thing either.

A sign at the farm said each acre yields between 7,000 and 9,000 pounds of peaches. About 1,500 people attend the u-pick event each year.

“All orchards are managed to provide a learning site for our instructional program and use a state-of-the-art computerized irrigation control system,” the sign said.

It would have been easy to stick to one tree because there were so many of these orbs. Instead I sauntered down the row with my cart and two boxes. One box filled with “eat these now” peaches and the other with “still need to ripen a bit” peaches. The goal was to not have to eat them every other hour.

Some peaches grow in bunches. (Image: Kathryn Reed)

The 3-acre plot has the Fay Elberta varietal. I don’t know my peach varieties. All I can say is they are good. Mom and I have been eating them like crazy. We’ve also given some away.

I also created a dessert that is somewhere in between a pie (no crust, so not a pie), a crisp (no oats, so not a crisp) and a cobbler (no biscuit like topping, so not a cobbler). I’ll have to come up with a name for it. The top resembled something similar to what our family does for an apple pie topping; a crumb crust.

Whatever it is I made, I made it twice it was soooo good and I had so many peaches. Both times others helped us consume the dessert. I’m pretty sure the recipe will find its way into the Tahoe Mountain News for my food column next July.

The nice thing about peaches is they freeze well once cut up. I don’t know how they would do baking later—but for sure they will be tasty in smoothies. We managed to eat all of ours, so none wound up in the freezer.

While not a cheap endeavor, it was great to harvest my own peaches and know that the money goes back to the ag department at Chico State.