CharlotteNC

McLawland Farms on Reedy Creek Road is the only picking farm inside the Charlotte city limits, an organic-practising smallholding twenty minutes from uptown that also picks figs, which almost nobody else here does. What You Can Pick Blueberries - through midsummer, by appointment Figs - late July into mid-September, at $12 a pound Flowers - by appointment, with a $6 kids' flower jar Good to Know Standing hours are Thursday 9am to 12:30pm and Saturday 9am to 2pm, with extra days added week by week and posted on the farm's own site. It is closed over the winter, January and February. Blueberry picking needs an appointment, and flowers are booked the same way. The farm publishes a fig price but no blueberry price. Pro tip: the figs are the reason to put this farm in your calendar. Fresh figs are a fortnight-long crop that does not travel, which is exactly why you almost never see them for sale and why picking them yourself is the only way to eat them properly ripe.

Bush-N-Vine Farm on Filbert Highway at York picks six things across seven months, which is the longest picking calendar of any farm in this region, and it has the reviews to match: 4.7 from more than a thousand people. What You Can Pick Strawberries - April and May Blueberries - May into July Peaches - through the summer Blackberries - mid-June to late July Pumpkins - autumn Flowers - including a sunflower field What Else is Available A farm cafe and a produce store, plus two further stands at Rock Hill and Lake Wylie if you cannot get out to York. Good to Know The York farm opens 8am to 6pm Monday to Friday and 8am to 5pm on Saturday. The two satellite stands keep shorter hours, 10am to 4pm on weekdays and 10am to 3pm on Saturday, and they are stands rather than fields. Pro tip: drive to York, not to the stands. The Rock Hill and Lake Wylie locations sell the fruit but you cannot pick at them, and that is not obvious from the farm's own hours page.

Mountain Creek Farm on Laton Road at Albemarle was planted in 2009 as a pick-your-own and nothing else, and it now carries more than 1,200 bushes across eight varieties, which is why its season runs from late May all the way into August. What You Can Pick Blueberries, from late May into August. What Else is Available Some pre-picked pints and quarts, in limited amounts. Good to Know Open 8am to 7pm, which is an eleven-hour day and the longest in this region. But the farm has no website, publishes no price, and is straightforward that the picking is limited on some days. Ring 704-791-3183 before driving out. Pro tip: eight varieties is the reason to come here rather than to a bigger patch. Blueberry varieties ripen weeks apart and taste noticeably different, and a farm with eight of them is picking something good from May to August rather than for one good fortnight.

Campbells Berry Farm at Bethlehem, seven miles north of Hickory, grows more than 2,800 rabbiteye blueberry bushes and holds a straight 5.0 from its reviewers. What You Can Pick Blueberries, from the last week of June to the first week of August, with July the reliable month. What Else is Available Pre-picked blueberries, fresh eggs, a gift shop and a refreshment stand. Good to Know In July the farm opens 7am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 1pm to 6pm Sunday, but it says plainly that hours vary and asks you to ring. There are porta-potties and a picnic area, and you may bring your own food. The farm publishes no price. Ring (828) 598-0707. It has hands-free picking buckets, which sounds like a small thing and is not: it means both hands stay in the bush. Pro tip: a 7am start on a rabbiteye planting is worth setting an alarm for. Rabbiteyes hold on the bush and sweeten in the heat, but picking them at seven in a Carolina July is a different morning from picking them at noon.

Catawba Springs Blueberry Farm on Sulphur Springs Road at Hickory is a small blueberry patch that opens mornings only, four days a week, and closes at noon. What You Can Pick Blueberries, in the midsummer season. Good to Know Open Tuesday to Friday, 8am to noon. That is a narrow window and it excludes the whole weekend, which is unusual enough to plan around. The farm publishes no price and asks you to check its page or ring first for availability. There are two phone numbers in circulation for it, 828-291-1494 and 828-443-0393, which is itself a sign of how little this farm publishes. Pro tip: Campbell's Berry Farm is fifteen minutes away at Bethlehem, opens seven days from 7am and has 2,800 bushes. If the Tuesday-to-Friday mornings do not suit, that is the alternative.

Hall Family Farm on West Rebound Road at Lancaster is a two-season farm and nothing in between: strawberries in the spring, pumpkins in the fall, with the gates shut for the months either side. What You Can Pick Strawberries - spring Pumpkins - fall, from 18 September What Else is Available Hall's Kitchen and a bakery, a playground, and hayrides. This is a farm built for a morning out rather than a quick pick. Good to Know No admission fee. You pay for what you pick, which on a farm with a playground and hayrides is worth knowing before you arrive braced for a gate price. Google may show this farm as temporarily closed. It is not: it is between seasons, and the farm says so on its own front page. Pro tip: 18 September is a Friday and it is the first day of the fall season. The first weekend of a pumpkin patch is the one with a full field and no picked-over rows.

Patterson Farm at Mount Ulla is a 200-acre tomato grower that runs one of the largest strawberry pick-your-own operations in the region, and it has the reviews to prove it: 4.6 from 1,580 people, the busiest farm on this list. What You Can Pick Strawberries - mid-April through early June Tulips - in early spring Sunflowers and zinnias - in summer What Else is Available A market and ice cream shop, donuts, a barnyard and a playground. Good to Know A wagon ride is required to reach the fields: they are not next to the car park, which changes how you plan the visit. No pets are allowed. For the busiest farm on this list, it publishes remarkably little: no price and no picking hours. Ring (704) 797-0013. The market opens 9am to 6pm Monday to Saturday, closed Sunday. The barnyard and playground run Wednesday to Saturday 9am to 2pm, which is a much narrower window. Pro tip: arrive early. That is the farm's own advice, not ours, and on a field that draws 1,580 reviewers it is the difference between picking and picking over.

Beaver Farms on Beaver Farm Road at Statesville is a working beef and produce farm that opens its strawberry field to the public in spring, and it is worth being clear about what that means: the strawberries and the sunflowers are the pick-your-own. Everything else the farm sells, including its blackberries and pumpkins, comes already picked. What You Can Pick Strawberries, from late April through the month of May. What Else is Available Farm beef, sweet corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, blackberries and pumpkins, all pre-picked. There is also a sunflower maze in late summer. Good to Know No admission fee, and the farm provides the picking containers, so there is nothing to bring and nothing to pay before you start. Pro tip: this is a late-April to end-of-May window and nothing more. Statesville has no other strawberry field this close to town, so if the last week of May has passed, you have missed it for the year.

Lineberger's Maple Springs Farm at Dallas is a fourth-generation farm that picks something for six months of the year, and it says the thing most farms leave you to guess at: "Admission is always free, just pay for what you pick." What You Can Pick Strawberries - from April, the crop the farm is best known for Blackberries - through midsummer Blueberries - through the summer Raspberries - a small planting Muscadines and scuppernongs - in the fall Pumpkins - fall, with hayrides What Else is Available A country store with cider pressed from imperfect berries, jams made by an Amish community in Indiana, and homemade baked goods. There are hay bale mountains, picnic shelters, a playground and chickens. Good to Know Open 9am to 6:30pm Monday to Friday, 9am to 6pm Saturday, and noon to 6pm Sunday, spring through 31 October. Admission is free and you pay for what you pick, but the farm publishes no rate, so ring (704) 922-8688 if the cost matters to your plans. The farm's second site, Berry Hill, is closed for the season. Maple Springs is the one to drive to. Pro tip: buy the cider. It is pressed from the berries that were not pretty enough to sell, which is the most honest thing on any farm shop shelf in this region.

Raceway Berry Farm on Mariposa Road at Stanley is a flower farm, florist and blueberry u-pick run by Tim and Lis Murray, and there is one thing to say before anything else: the blueberry fields are closed to picking for the whole of 2026. What You Can Pick Blueberries, in a normal year, from mid-June to mid-July. Not this year. What Else is Available Flowers, fresh eggs, and pre-picked berries. The flower side of the business trades year round. Good to Know The farm takes cash, debit, Visa and Mastercard. If you are planning a 2027 trip, ring (704) 400-3356 first. A farm that has closed its u-pick for a season does not always reopen it. Pro tip: Stanley is fifteen minutes from Lineberger's at Dallas, which picks blueberries through the summer and charges by the container. That is where to go this year.

Perry Lowe Orchards at Moravian Falls is a sixth-generation apple orchard, and its u-pick ticket buys a good deal more than a bag: the same ticket covers a tractor ride, a megaslide, ten shots on the apple cannon, and a basketball, football and baseball throw. What You Can Pick Apples, on weekends through September and October, opening Labor Day weekend. What Else is Available The Apple House store, open most of the year, selling apple cider donuts, fried apple pies, apple fritters and a Pink Lady apple cider slushie. Good to Know The store opens 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm Saturday, closed Sunday. U-pick is a separate ticket booked on the orchard's site, and you are not charged online: you pay at check-in when you arrive. Pro tip: take the $3 General Admission unless you actually want the megaslide. It still includes the tractor ride out to the trees, which is the part of the day worth having, and it costs a third of the Play package. And if you only want apples, the Apple House sells them six days a week with no ticket at all.

Cauble Creek Vineyard on Cauble Farm Road at Salisbury is a working winery that opens its muscadine vines to the public for about four weeks each autumn, and it is one of only two places in this region where you can pick a grape. What You Can Pick Muscadines, from 5 September to 3 October 2026 in three varieties: Carlos, Doreen and Noble. Carlos and Doreen are bronze, Noble is black. The vineyard publishes no price and its website could not be reached. Ring (704) 633-1137. What Else is Available The vineyard's own wine, made from the grapes you are standing in. Good to Know Open 11am to 6pm Thursday to Saturday and 1pm to 6pm Sunday, closed Monday to Wednesday. In the muscadine window the vineyard also opens a picking morning, 9am to 11am Thursday through Sunday, before trading starts. Pro tip: pick the Noble if you want to eat them and the Carlos if you want to cook. Bronze muscadines have the thinner skin and the sweeter flesh; the black ones carry the flavour that survives a pot.

Hunter Farm on Providence Road at Weddington is the closest picking field to south Charlotte, and it runs on a seven-week window and nothing else: strawberries from 11 April to 31 May, then done. What You Can Pick Strawberries, at $4.50 a pound. Good to Know The farm's own page gives the start date, 11 April, and the price, and says only that availability is weather and crop dependent. It posts the picking days on its social accounts as the berries ripen rather than publishing a weekly schedule. Walk-ins are welcome when space allows, which is the farm's own careful phrasing for a field this close to a city. Google may show this farm as temporarily closed. That is the seven-week season showing, not a closure. Pro tip: Friday from four is the quiet slot. Both weekend days at a farm twenty minutes from Ballantyne are the opposite of quiet.

Howard Family Farm on Crater Road at Harmony is fifty-seven miles straight up I-77 from Charlotte, and it is the only farm in this region whose picking year opens with tulips: they are the first crop of the calendar, before a strawberry has coloured. What You Can Pick Tulips - the first crop of the year, before a strawberry has coloured Strawberries - spring Sunflowers and summer flowers Pumpkins - fall, with a corn maze and hayrides What Else is Available A CSA and farm vegetables. Good to Know Open 10am to 5pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm on Saturday. It publishes no price, and it is blunt about how to reach it: "We do not take orders from email or facebook you must call." Pro tip: an hour up I-77 is a long way for strawberries you can get at Mooresville. Come for the tulips in early spring or the pumpkin patch in October, which are the two things this farm does that its nearer rivals do not.

Carrigan Farms at Mooresville is a century farm with a flooded granite quarry at the middle of it, and the quarry is what most of its 1,256 reviewers came for. The picking is the quieter half of the business, and the apple ride has run every September since 1975. What You Can Pick Strawberries - mid-April to late May Apples - September, by tractor-drawn hayride into the orchard, a half-peck bag each Pumpkins - from 1 October Flowers - alongside the fruit Good to Know Apples are sold by the bag rather than by weight: a half-peck each, five or six pounds. The farm publishes no price for any of its picking, so ring (704) 664-1450 if you need to know before you set out. The quarry runs separate open-swim days, which is a different ticket and a different trip. Pro tip: the apple picking is a fifty-year-old hayride with a fixed bag, not a wander through the rows. If you want to pick until you are tired, this is not that farm. If you want the ride, it is the best one in the region.

Bumble Berry Farms at Catawba is a young farm that answers more questions on its own website than most farms twice its age, and it holds a straight 5.0 from eighty-four reviewers. What You Can Pick Strawberries - April to June Thornless blackberries - June to July Pumpkins - the patch is promised for September 2026 What It Costs Berries are priced by the basket rather than weighed: Two-quart basket - $12 to pick your own, $14 pre-picked Four-quart basket - $22 to pick your own, $24 pre-picked What Else is Available Pre-picked berries and the farm's own strawberry jam, $6 for a four-ounce jar and $10 for eight. Good to Know The farm provides your picking container and will not let you bring your own, which is a food-safety rule rather than an upsell. There are clean porta-potties and hand washing stations, and covered picnic tables. Cash is preferred and all major cards are taken with a 3% fee. Only service animals are allowed. Pro tip: the four-quart basket is the one to take. At $22 against $12 you get twice the fruit for under twice the price, and the gap to pre-picked is only two dollars either way, so the picking is for the morning rather than the saving. And thornless blackberries are the thing to come for. Picking blackberries usually costs you blood; this planting does not, which matters enormously if you are bringing children.

Farmer's Daughter at Keeper Creek on Triplett Road at Mount Ulla runs its picking by reservation, deliberately, and says why in plain terms: "Reservations allow us to keep your experience intimate." This is the opposite of a busy farm, and it is a choice rather than an accident. What You Can Pick Blueberries - the main crop, June into early August Blackberries and raspberries - around 600 plants of the two together Lavender - which almost no farm in the Carolinas offers Pumpkins and squash - in the autumn Good to Know Now closed for the 2026 season. The season normally runs from the first or second week of June to about 1 August, which is around eight weeks. The planting is over a thousand blueberry bushes, around six hundred blackberry and raspberry plants and more than three hundred lavender, which is a lot of ground for a farm that takes bookings to keep it quiet. The farm publishes no price. Ring (704) 201-8475. There is a single bathroom with a working sink, cold water and hand sanitiser, which the farm describes exactly like that. No pets are allowed. Pro tip: the lavender is the reason to book rather than the berries. Picking lavender is a thing you can do at perhaps one farm in this whole region, and a booked slot on a small organic farm is the right setting for it.

Wise Acres Organic Farm on Hartis Road at Indian Trail is a certified organic u-pick half an hour from uptown Charlotte, and it runs on reservations rather than gates: farm visits are by booking only, and the slots go on sale on a published date. What You Can Pick Strawberries - mid-April to early June Blueberries - June to early July Sunflowers - June to early July Pumpkins - mid-September to early November Cut flowers - April to July, then September to the first frost What Else is Available The GreenHouse, the farm's own bar, open Friday and Saturday 4pm to 8pm in summer with ice cream, beer, cider and wine, goats, a playground and outdoor televisions for the game. The GreenHouse needs no reservation, only the farm does. Good to Know Farm visits are by reservation only, and the farm publishes no price. September slots open on 8 September at 5pm and October slots on 29 September at 5pm, with weekly releases on Tuesdays at 5pm. Pro tip: the reservation release times are the thing to diarise, not the picking dates. A certified organic pumpkin patch thirty minutes from uptown sells out, and 5pm on a Tuesday is when it does.

Pinetop Farm on Majolica Road at Salisbury is two farms in one year: blueberries in midsummer and choose-and-cut Christmas trees in December, with nothing in between. What You Can Pick Blueberries, through midsummer. The 2026 season closed on 1 August. Good to Know Picking is Tuesday and Thursday evenings 5:30pm to 8pm, and Saturday mornings 8am to 1pm. Two evenings and a morning is a narrow window for a farm this close to Salisbury, so the Saturday fills. The farm provides containers or you can bring your own, and it makes a point of its easy access parking, mowed rows and hayrides to and from the field, which together make it one of the more manageable fields here for anyone who does not walk far. Pro tip: the evening slots are the ones to take. Picking blueberries in a Piedmont July at half past five is a different experience from doing it at noon, and almost nobody else does it.

Ritchie Farm on St Johns Church Road at Concord trades under two names its owners clearly enjoy, Michael's Muscadines and JoJo's Blueberries, and it grows seven varieties of muscadine in both bronze and black. What You Can Pick Muscadines - usually ready in early September, running to about 31 October, in seven varieties Blueberries - June and July Good to Know No pesticides are used on the vines or the bushes. It is cash only, and the farm asks you to ring (704) 796-3147 before coming rather than turning up. In season it opens 10am to 5pm Monday to Saturday. Pro tip: seven muscadine varieties across two colours is a rare thing to walk through. Bronze and black are different fruit, not different shades of the same one, and picking both is the whole point of a farm that grows both.

Deer Run Farm on Highway 24 at Midland picks ten acres of strawberries between Locust and Midland, and it does one thing that almost no other farm in this region has bothered to do: four of its rows are laid out to be wheelchair accessible. What You Can Pick Strawberries, from around the second week of April for about eight weeks. In 2026 the farm announced its own opening: "Strawberry Season at Deer Run Farm begins Friday, April 10th! Join us from 8:00 AM - 6:00 PM for u-pick strawberries." What Else is Available A country store with the farm's own produce, open through the summer after the strawberries finish. Good to Know The store opens 10am to 6pm Monday to Saturday and 1pm to 6pm Sunday. In strawberry season the field opened at 8am, two hours before the store. The farm publishes no price and its website could not be reached: ring (704) 888-6304. Pro tip: four accessible rows is not a gesture, it is a design decision, and it is the only one of its kind found in this region. If someone in your party does not walk far, this is the field to drive to.

Alexander Family Farms on Alexander Farm Road at Monroe is a fourth-generation Union County farm with roots in the 1950s, and it is one of the few here that trades seven days a week all year rather than opening only for a season. What You Can Pick Strawberries, in spring. What Else is Available Pasture-raised poultry, pastured pork, farm eggs, pantry goods, and a wide vegetable list: tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers, squash, okra, peppers and sweet corn. Good to Know Open 9am to 7pm Monday to Friday, 8am to 5pm Saturday and 1pm to 5pm Sunday. The farm publishes no price, and the strawberries depend on the week, so ring 704-698-6262 before driving out for them specifically. Pro tip: this is one of very few farms here that trades all year. If the strawberries are done, the drive still gets you pastured pork, farm eggs and sweet corn, which is more than most of its neighbours can say in August.

Apple Hill Orchard and Cider Mill at Morganton is the biggest name on this list by some distance, with more than a thousand reviews at 4.7, and it is the one farm in the region that asks you to book a slot before you pick. What You Can Pick Apples - from 8 August, running into November, weather permitting Peaches - at the start of the season, alongside the first apples What Else is Available A farm market and a farmhouse bakery, neither of which needs a pass. If you only want cider and a pie, you can simply turn up. Good to Know Picking needs an Orchard Access Pass: $4 a person booked online, or $5 at the gate in September and October and only if any are left. Children two and under are free, and the fruit you pick is charged on top. The orchard opens six days a week from 7 August. Which six it does not say, so check before a long drive. Pro tip: book the $4 pass rather than gambling on the $5 gate price. September and October weekends are when the whole of Burke County drives out here, and "if available" is the orchard's own wording.

Springs Farm Market on Springfield Parkway at Fort Mill is the closest field to Charlotte's southern suburbs, and the picking here is one crop and one crop only: strawberries, at $4.49 a pound. What You Can Pick Strawberries, April into May. The last day of the 2026 season was 21 May. What Else is Available A full farm market, open seven days: peaches, nectarines, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, melons, okra, peppers, broccoli and kale. The peaches are sold by the box, not picked. Good to Know The market opens 8am to 7pm Monday to Saturday and 1pm to 7pm Sunday. The picking stand is card only and does not take cash, with a 3% credit card surcharge. That is unusual enough on a farm to be worth knowing before you queue. Pro tip: 21 May is early for a last day. Fort Mill runs ahead of the farms further north, so if you are choosing between here and Statesville in the third week of May, come here first.

Rivers' Blueberries on Colony Road is a blueberry patch inside a Rock Hill neighbourhood, a few minutes from Cherry Park, run by the Rivers family. It is the most urban picking field in this region by some way. What You Can Pick Blueberries, organically grown, from the first week of July for about four weeks. Good to Know The farm provides cups to pick into and plastic grocery bags to carry the berries home, so there is nothing to bring. Hours are announced at the start of the season on the farm's Facebook page and nowhere else. A four-week window with no published hours means the Facebook page is not optional reading. Pro tip: this is a neighbourhood patch, not a farm with a car park. If you are used to driving an hour for blueberries, the novelty here is that you can pick a gallon and be home in fifteen minutes.

The Village Homestead Blueberry Patch on Steele Village Road at Rock Hill has several hundred bushes and no chemicals on any of them, and it is the only farm in this region that shuts through the middle of the day and reopens in the evening. What You Can Pick Blueberries, from several hundred bushes. Good to Know Open Monday to Saturday, 8am to 1pm and again 4pm to 8pm, closed Sundays. The three-hour gap in the middle is deliberate: nobody should be picking blueberries in a South Carolina afternoon. The patch has no website and publishes no price; ring (803) 230-4019. It provides buckets to pick with and bags to carry home. Payment is cash, check, PayPal or Venmo, so no cards. No pets except service dogs. Pro tip: take the four o'clock shift. Evening picking on a chemical-free patch is the pleasantest hour of fruit in this region and hardly anyone knows the evening slot exists.

Windy Hill Orchard & Cidery on Black Highway at York is an apple farm with a cider bar attached, and its picking is unusually narrow by variety: the u-pick apple is Stayman Winesap, with a little of a newer variety, Crimson Crisp, at the start. What You Can Pick Apples, typically early September through mid-October, depending on the growing season. What Else is Available A farm stand and a cider bar, which is what most of the 570 reviewers came for. Good to Know Reservations are only required for apple picking. The farm stand and the cider bar you can simply walk into. The orchard publishes no price for the reservation or the apples: ring (803) 684-0690. The stand opens 10am to 6pm Thursday to Saturday and noon to 6pm Sunday. The cider bar runs Friday noon to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 6pm and Sunday noon to 6pm. Pro tip: Stayman Winesap is a hard, tart, old-fashioned apple that most orchards stopped planting decades ago. If you have only ever picked Honeycrisp, this is a genuinely different fruit and it makes far better pie.

The Ivy Place on Van Wyck Road at Lancaster is a berry and flower farm on a historic property, on a historic property that also trades as an events venue. What You Can Pick Strawberries - April and May Blueberries - June and July Blackberries - June and July Muscadines - from mid-September Tomatoes and cut flowers - May into September Good to Know In season the farm opens daily, 9am to 3pm, from late June into the first or second week of August. It takes cash, debit, credit and contactless, and provides the containers. It publishes no price: ring (803) 403-1104. Google may show this farm as temporarily closed. It is between seasons, and the farm's own daily updates page says so. Pro tip: this farm keeps a daily updates page and actually uses it. On a farm whose season ends "the first or second week of August", that page is the difference between a good morning and a wasted drive.

Black's Peaches on Black Highway at York has been the peach name in this corner of South Carolina for generations, and the picking calendar here is unusually specific: the pick-your-own peaches run for the month of July and no longer. What You Can Pick Strawberries - mid-April to mid-June Peaches - July, in the farm's own words "for the month of July" Tomatoes - August and September Pumpkins - October What Else is Available A large farm store selling pre-picked peaches, blackberries, blueberries, muscadines, apples, melons and sweet potatoes, plus grits, cornmeal, honey and elderberry syrup. There is ice cream and a lunch counter. Good to Know The farm publishes no price and asks you to ring (803) 684-2333 for picking availability. No pets are allowed on the property. Picking is "based on availability" and you check in at the store first rather than driving straight to the field. Pro tip: the store carries far more fruit than the fields do. If you arrive in a month with nothing to pick, you will still leave with peaches, and the ice cream is the reason half the reviews exist.

Cotton Hills Farm on Lowrys Highway at Chester is a long-established South Carolina produce farm with three markets, and its picking is deliberately narrow: a few weeks of peaches and about five weeks of strawberries, out of a growing season that runs most of the year. What You Can Pick Strawberries - end of April through May Peaches - a few weeks each summer, inside a May to September crop Collards - the farm runs a u-pick collard patch, which is rare Flowers - zinnias, sunflowers, snapdragons and mixed buckets at $20 a bucket What Else is Available Farm markets at three sites selling grits, cornmeal, seasonal produce and pumpkins. Good to Know The markets open 9am to 7pm Monday to Saturday. The picking windows sit inside those hours and are much shorter, so the market being open does not mean the field is. Pro tip: the peach picking is the short one. The farm's own wording is "a few weeks each summer" out of a four-month peach crop, so this is a phone call rather than a drive.