Saturday, September 03, 2011

A Fine Day Out



I came to Ogden to visit my parents and attend the wedding of Casey and Eric (a nephew).  It was a lovely wedding--the snapshot above is of them leaving just after taking their vows.


Wedding over, we relaxed and on Saturday morning Mom and Dad drove me up to Pettingill's Fruit Stand. It was really busy.


They'd just brought in a load of peaches on a flat truck and the employees were busy selling them "off the back of the truck."  Sort of.  I've been complaining to Dave all summer that I haven't had a good stone fruit in California for at least 3 or 4 years.  I plan to eat one that Dad bought this morning, so I can say I've eaten one at least once.  Interesting that I live in a place (California) known for its fruits and vegetables, but the peaches & nectarines in our area?  Awful.



I liked the knife spearing a taste of peach.  I should have grabbed it and tasted it, but my Dad moves quickly and I only had a very limited amount of time for photos. (Like I said, I'll get a whole one later this afternoon.)





Every quirky farmstand has quirky signs and decor.  Here's a couple of farmers in a fur-lined bathtub.



I wish I lived nearby.  I'd love to can a bushel of these tomatoes and eat them all year round.  However that would be tricky.  After years of not canning, I gave all my jars away to the thrift store.  It was a bit sad--like the end of an era.  But the steam canner is still up in the rafters if I ever want to do that again.  For now, my canning habits are putting up freezer jam (strawberry and raspberry) every spring.


A hanging whirly-gig, with a tractor in the center. I saw more of these in the next store we went to.
 

When I visited Christine in Delaware last year, her farmstand had lists of apples and the harvest dates.  This was a list of peaches.


No, the corn silks aren't red.  They were near the red plastic awning so picked up the color.  But it reminded me of some of the well-known painters that switch out colors in their art.


In case you're hungry.


The sign reads: I started with nothing and I still have most of it left.



Checking out.  Above the doorway are pumpkinheads with quotes from the visitors to Pettingill's.


Close-up of the pumpkinheads.

3 comments:

Judy said...

I LOVE that fur-lined bathtub. Makes me want to sit in it with a book, sans water. I also like that they have to inform their customers that 1 dozen = 12.

Anonymous said...

I too love the "12=dozen" sign! HAHA I would give anything to have something like this close by. Alas, I am too far north! I paid $5 for enough tomatoes to make 5 pints of salsa. $12 for a bushel seems unbelievable to me! As for the peaches, I love them! And I haven't had a good apricot since I left Utah!

Artax said...

Tim's 90-something year old grandfather occasionally works at Pettingill's, but I did not see him in your pictures. And I agree. Our five years in California were not so great for fruit (although we found a couple of places that sold reasonable produce). Local fruit in Utah can be amazing.