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Sweet finds on the Utah Fruitway

September 1, 2016 By Heather King Leave a Comment

Utah peaches
Utah peaches

Locals have celebrated the bounty of produce harvested between Brigham City and South Willard in Box Elder County for well over a century, but it wasn’t until 2006 that the State of Utah designated the area on Highway 89 as the “Utah Fruitway”.

It’s a highway rooted in history and to this day you can still visit some of the Fruitway’s original residents like Pettingill’s Fruit Farm, Grammy’s, Neilson’s Fruit & Produce and the nostalgic Maddox Ranch House restaurant.

Brigham City Peach Days
Brigham City Peach Days

Surrounding the Fruitway is some of the best fruit tree-producing soils in Utah says Utah State University. Over 40 different varieties of peaches are grown in Box Elder County and you’ll find them all along Utah Fruitway in one of the many fruit stands dotting the road as well as the focus of Brigham City’s Peach Days celebration, held the weekend after Labor Day since 1904.

In Willard, Grammy’s alone has 1,600 fruit trees, featuring 16 varieties of peaches plus six kinds of apples, five varieties of cherries, as well as apricots, nectarines and plums. Other long-standing, family-run fruit stands like Neilson’s and Pettingill sell everything from stone fruits and apples to beets and melons. Regular shoppers along the Fruitway know that each stand has a distinctive draw that keeps them coming back each year. At Neilson’s, huge pops of color from tables of wave petunias and geraniums beacon to drivers to stop into their yellow-and-white-striped tent for flowers and produce.

peach shake at Pettingill's
peach shake at Pettingill’s

Pettingill’s Fruit Farm is at the southern edge of the Fruitway—the first stop driving north. Bushels of peaches greet customers at the entrance but don’t miss the shelves of Pettingill’s jams and fruit butters (cherry, apple, pumpkin and peach to name just a few) near the back or on hotter days, order a custom-made fruit shake from the Shake Shop. Each is made with local fruits and Ogden’s own Farr Better Ice Cream.

At the height of peach season, isn’t it time you made your way to Utah’s Fruitway?

 

Filed Under: Farmers Markets, Features, Purveyors, Travel Tagged With: Brigham City, fruit, Peach Days, peaches, Perry, Utah, Utah Fruitway, Willard

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About the Author

Heather King: Writer and lover of delicious food and drink in Utah and around the world. Anonymous food critic and writer for The Salt Lake Tribune, The Utah Review, Devour Utah, Utah Stories and more. Runs #LadiesWhoLunchSLC.

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