Our Fruits
Our fruit season starts in late May with strawberries. It continues into early June with early rasberries and red and white currants. Late June into early July brings black currants, more raspberries, gooseberries and cherries.
Late July into early August, our peaches begin to ripen. The Reliance and Sweet Sixteen peaches are early ripening varieties, and their taste can not be rivaled. Reliance has floral and apricot overtones. Red Havens, Harrow's Beauty and White Lady varieties ripen in mid-August. Our latest varieties in late August are Elberta and Bell of Georgia (a white fleshed peach that is juicy, sweet and outstanding in flavor). Late July and August are also the season for blackberries. We have several varieties, all delicious.
Late August through September beckons our apples and pears. Since this is our first season with enough apples and pears to sell, I will have to report back on varieties and their flavors.
We manage our fruits organically which means incredible flavor but sometimes blemished fruits, particularly the tree fruits. So, if you see some specks or white clay residues or maybe a whole from an insect, rest assured that these traits are not harmful to people. They just mean that the fruits are so tasty that other creatures want to eat them as well as humans.
We sell our fruits at the Urbana Farmers' Market and Chicago's Green City Market on Saturdays (May-October). We also offer u-pick. Our hours are BY APPOINTMENT ONLY. PLEASE call ahead to SCHEDULE A VISIT AND make sure we have what you are looking for (217-643-2314 or email us at prairiefruits@gmail.com).
As of August 2009, it is looking very doubtful that we will have enough berries or apples for U-pick this year. The -20 degree temperatures in January of this year killed many flower buds on berries, peaches and apples. We had a meager pear crop (only two varieties--Harvest Queen and Moonglow) and some black currants and blackberries. If we have enough berries, we will bring them to select farmers' markets. Check our news blog to see if we will be bringing any fruit to the markets for the remainder of the season.