First Peaches of the Season

"The first peach of the summer brings so many memories of family gatherings, Grandma's peach custard pie and the long days of harvest that lie ahead." -Jill Eckert-Tantillo

Juicy, sweet peaches are right on time. We began harvesting the first of our peach crop last weekend. There's nothing like the awesome aroma of fresh peaches. My sister Jill, sums it up best, "The first peach of the summer brings so many memories of family gatherings, Grandma's peach custard pie and the long days of harvest that lie ahead."

These first peaches are a clingstone variety which are named for the flesh that will not pull away from the pit. We like to call them "clings" for short. While their stubborness can be frustrating, their early ripening is an offsetting advantage. Afterall, without clings, we would have to wait until mid-July for our first true taste of summer.

Just because clings can't be pitted, doesn't mean they are impossible. Simply slice or quarter them, making cuts with a paring knife toward the center and around the pit, then lift out each slice. There's nothing to it!

Kids Cooking Classes - Fresh from the Fields

It's homegrown season and we have lots of tasty items and fun recipes your kids are sure to love. Classes will take place on Saturday, June 6, 13, 20 and 27 from 1 pm - 3 pm at Eckert's Country Store in Belleville. The cost is $15/child. Call 618.233.0513 to make your reservations today!

Homegrown Strawberries!

We still have a great supply of homegrown strawberries at Eckert's in Belleville. Whether you want to pick your own or purchase them already picked from the Country Store, the berries are ripe, sweet and ready to eat!

We plan to have pick your own strawberries open through the weekend, but we always recommend that you call our Harvest Hotline before you come so you have the most up-to-date picking information.

Harvest Hotline: 618.233.0513 x. 6

Classes at Eckert's...Fun for the Whole Family

We have been offering cooking, wine and gardening classes now for the past couple of years and recently added kid's classes to the mix. We are all having a lot of fun developing the classes and have had great participation thus far. This month the kid's class theme is "Green is Good" and the recipes we are featuring include:

• Spinach Ball
• Leprechaun Refresher
• Fruit Pops
• Pesto Pasta
• Green Thumb
• Tropical Celery Boats

Please check out our calendar of events for other upcoming classes & events!

Grandma Eckert's Peach Custard Pie

This entry was given to me by my wife, Angie.

One of my favorite things about peach season, now that I am a mom, is baking a pie with my daughter. I slice and peel; she perfectly places the peaches in the crust! Then she helps me crack the eggs and scramble the custard before we pour it over the peaches. We all enjoy the smell of baking peaches for the next hour or so.
This recipe is one of Chris’ favorite’s. It was his Grandmother Ruth’s and it is excellent!! Of course, it can be made even better with a scoop of Eckert’s frozen custard.

Enjoy, Angie

PEACH CUSTARD PIE
3 cups peeled, sliced peaches (about 7 peaches)
1 (9-inch) unbaked pie shell
2 eggs, beaten
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp flour

Arrange fruit in bottom of pie shell. In a mixing bowl, combine eggs, sugar, salt, and flour; add cream and vanilla and stir until smooth. Pour mixture over fruit. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10 minutes; reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. (The pie should brown slightly on the top)
Angie’s notes: I cover my crust with "pie crust savers" or aluminum foil for the first 40 minutes of baking. I bake my pie on a cookie sheet in effort to prevent custard spills inside my oven.

More Than Peaches

Here at Eckert's we grow much more than peaches and apples. This time of year we are very busy harvesting several crops for you to enjoy in our Country Store. Currently, we are harvesting tomatoes, green bell peppers and banana peppers. As the summer progresses we will also have red and yellow bell peppers.

In addition to the crops we grow, we partner with many area farmers to get as many home grown products as possible. Currently, we have home grown sweet corn, cantaloupe, squash, beets, cucumbers and zucchini.

So make sure to stop by our Country Store in Belleville, IL to get a fresh taste of summer. Not to mention the freshest peaches available anywhere.

Cheers,

Chris

Peach Picking

Today we started picking peaches. Our crew was hard at it at 6:00 a.m. this morning picking early cling peaches at our Belleville farm. I couldn't sleep waiting to see the first peaches of the season. The first picking was light, as it usually is. We harvested 30 totes and will be back in the orchard Tuesday to harvest many more. We harvest the same trees 5 times (every three days) to catch the fruit at the peak of maturity. It is much more expensive to operate this way but it is the only way to get peaches at the highest eating quality. Once a peach is harvested, it no longer produces additional sugar, more time on the tree equals more sugar in the peach.

The first few days of picking are always a learning experience for the crew. Here you can see Martin Mauricio working with his crew to teach them how to find fully ripe fruit. Martin has been working in our orchards for 19 years. It sounds easy but it takes a trained eye to distinguish ripe fruit from immature. An experienced picker can harvest up to 150 totes in a 8-10 hour shift in 100 degree orchards with no breeze and totally covered in peach fuzz.

Once the fruit is harvested it is hauled into our packing house located behind the country store. There the fruit is washed, sized and packaged for sale at Eckert's Country Store. When we are harvesting at full speed, the fruit can go from tree to store in less than one hour. The only way to get it closer to the tree is to pick it yourself.

I can't wait to get to the thick of peach season!

Cheers,

Chris