Peaches, people! Here comes sustainable stone fruit from Warner’s Farm.

August is awesome. It’s the ultimate convergence of seasonal fruit - Quebec berries meet Niagara peaches meet Florida tropicals. And we’re planning to eat SO much fruit while it lasts. Our team spent a day at long-time partner Warner’s Farm last week to tour the orchards and get ready for stone fruit season. We’ve worked with Torrie for five seasons now, and he’s adamant about adhering to “the Lufa standard” (as he dubs it) - no synthetic pesticides are used to grow the peaches, plums, nectarines, apples, pears, and grapes he sends our way.

Check out our photos from last week’s visit and season’s past. 

Torrie and his dad Fred, the second and third generation running the family farm. At 91 years old, Fred still helps out with tree planting and accounting.

One of the many peach trees sprawled throughout the orchard.

Torrie walking through the 60 acres of orchards and vineyards.

Warner’s Farm uses sustainable biocontrols like the pheromone ties pictured above. These ties produce a scent that confuses insects and keeps them away from the crops.

Growing stone fruit without synthetic pesticides is extremely difficult and there are times when pests get the best of the crop. We’ll be waiting patiently for apricots on the Marketplace again next season.

Jules and Torrie headed towards the violet plums to see how they’re coming along.

Good news - they’re doing great and should be on the Marketplace in a few weeks.

Although Torrie is an expert in all things stone fruit, he still tries to grow new fruit varieties. Scattered throughout the orchards, you can find fruits like kiwis, pawpaws, and quinces (pictured above).

The oldest tree on the property (100 years old just like the farm). As Torrie likes to say, “plant pears for your heirs”.