LONDONDERRY, N.H. — Fuzzy, sun-warmed and just within reach, the late-summer harvest brought the orchard back to life, as families packed the farm this weekend to pluck their favorites.
Folks wandered from tree to tree down the long aisles of Sunnycrest Farm’s orchard this past Saturday, celebrating “Peach Weekend,” with bundles of the sought-after stone fruit.
With a strong crop this year, the farm offered visitors a chance to experience the harvest at its peak, inviting them to pick their own peaches.
The season is in full swing, said Daniel Hicks IV — the fourth-generation owner and operator of Sunnycrest Farm.
The Hicks family has worked the orchards and fields at 59 High Range Road since 1943, and they’re all too familiar with the agricultural tradition of “pick-your-own.”
Hicks, 32, said the farm’s peach crop was especially strong this year, meaning everyone who stopped by was more than able to fill a cloth bag or two full of the fruit.
“Two years ago, we didn’t have a single peach on a tree,” Hicks said. “This year, we got ourselves a beautiful crop.”
The farm has about 9 acres dedicated to peaches, Hicks said, including a separate orchard specifically harvested for products sold in the farm store.
Peaches are only a piece of the operation at Sunnycrest, with pick-your-own opportunities throughout the season for nearly every fruit it grows, as well as a market, bakery, ice-cream stand and plenty more agritourism activities.
Strawberries arrive in June. July brings cherries, blueberries and raspberries. August is the month for stone fruits, including nectarines, peaches and plums. Then comes the apple craze each fall.
Next month, the orchard will turn its attention to apple picking, while the cider, doughnuts and pies are expected to fly off the shelves.
“That’s the time of year I can’t even have a social life because we’re so busy,” Hicks said with a laugh.
But the peaches are in their prime as of now, which creates a steady stream of business before the quieter winter offseason.
“The agritourism part of it is awesome,” he said. “It’s how everything is working in New England now. Pick-your-own is such a huge commodity now and you can make it customer friendly.”
Outside, a married couple or friend group was sifting through the orchard every which way, searching for the best peach to add to their batch.
Kathy Thomas walked through the rows accompanied by her daughter-in-law, Ashley, who pushed a stroller carrying her twin daughters. The family reserved their Saturday morning to pick peaches together — their second year in a row doing so at Sunnycrest.
Thomas said the experience is building into a tradition for them, and she finds importance in showing the kids where food comes from.
“There aren’t a lot of farms like this left,” Thomas said. “It means the world to us, and the next generation learns what it’s like. It’s not just about going to the market to buy your food. This is where it comes from.”
“We like the smaller farms, too,” her daughter-in-law said. “They’re more clean and less crowded.
Kerri Iannacci was a few rows over, watching her daughter perched on her husband’s shoulders, reaching for peaches higher up in one of the taller trees. Nearby, her in-laws were plucking their own favored fruits.
“We started a new family tradition, so they’re from Pennsylvania,” Iannacci said while gesturing to her family members. “They came up last year and we loved it and all wanted to come back and do it again.”
Darien Brouck and Amanda Rosa were also roaming the orchard for their first year picking peaches, but they were all too familiar with the farm, having previously swung by to snag cherries, apples and flowers earlier in the season.
“We love Sunnycrest,” Brouck said. “Next month, we’ll definitely be back for apples.”
While customers plucked away, Hicks was working close by on a tractor inside a warehouse he labeled “the shop.” Running a farm requires one to wear plenty of hats, and fortunately for Hicks, he said the operation is mainly headed by himself and his co-captain, Samantha Pitarys.
He described himself as the farmer and mechanic, while Pitarys works more on the retail side as the farm stand’s store runner. Together, they are keeping the generations-old operation moving.
Inside the farm market, dozens of shoppers browsed and bought everything from freshly harvested produce made on the farm, and the products that result from such harvests, like pies, cookies and jams.
“I’m just keeping this train going,” Hicks said. “I could never see this place go.”
His parents remain heavily involved in the farm, he said, as his father, Dan Hicks III, stopped by the warehouse Saturday.
Dan Hicks III said the farm’s story stretches back even further than the Hicks name, as his grandfather, Al Conner, got it up and running while he was an agriculture teacher at Pinkerton Academy in the 1940s.
More than 80 years later, the farm continues to grow — and still finds new ways to bring folks to the fields.
The same could be said in North Andover as Smolak Farms hosted its own Peach Festival this weekend, with pick-your-own peaches and other fruits drawing visitors to the South Bradford Street farm.
Smolak Farms has similarly embraced agritourism as a way to help families celebrate the harvest. Owner Michael Smolak said customers regularly show their appreciation for having a farm nearby that offers such opportunities.
“Hardly a day goes by without someone thanking me for having the farm,” Smolak said. “We have a lot of families come out and most of them are very grateful.”
He said attractions and celebration of the harvest are what keeps farms like Sunnycrest and Smolak flourishing year by year, helping local farmers trying to “stay ahead of the curve.”