Sugar Plum Acres has been a family-owned farm since 1925 when Dave Hunter's grandfather first started tilling the land located southwest of Phoenix. 

Situated southwest of Phoenix and brimming with orchards, flowers and foliage, Sugar Plum Acres offers residents in the Rogue Valley the opportunity to collect their own fruit straight from the branch. 

The family-owned farm off Pioneer Road has been a mainstay of the Rogue Valley for close to a century, with the U-Pick program beginning in the 1990s and offering cherries and peaches.

The 14-acre farm also grows tomatoes, peppers and a wide assortment of flowers such as roses and dahlias.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to let them come out and enjoy the farm,” said Dave Hunter, who helps run his parents’ farm with his siblings. “It’s been tremendous; people love it and we love the people.”

The cherry U-Pick season occurred throughout the month of June, and now the peach season is approaching with the farm owners anticipating the peach U-Pick season to start near the end of July or early August.

This year’s fruit harvest so far has been “fantastic,” Hunter said. “I mean the cherries were great and we were really surprised at how heavy the set was and same thing with the peaches.”

The way the U-Pick works is people arrive at the farm, wait in the car line until they get into the property, pick the peaches, then weigh and purchase them before driving out.

Part of the appeal of the U-Pick is for residents to connect with the farmers and land that tended to food they eat, a rare occurrence for most in the modern day.

“We’ve moved away from an agrarian society … people don’t get to experience this too often,” Hunter said.

The farm receives plenty of newcomers to the U-Pick days, but a significant chunk of arrivals are families who’ve been attending for years, some for multiple generations.

“We had a husband and wife who said this is the fourth generation that’s come out here, and that it just means so much to them; it’s kind of a family tradition for them,” Hunter said. “We get a lot of new people but also the same people for 30 years, so they’re really the reason why we can do it, but it is incredible.”

A lot of effort goes into growing, maintaining and harvesting Sugar Plum Acres’ 10-acre peach section, with multiple environmental factors affecting the process as well.

“You prune them in February, and around April and May, you go through and thin everything,” Hunter said, adding, “there’s a lot to it and there’s a lot of things that can go wrong, but it’s fun.”

The Hunter family grows Redhaven and Glohaven peaches on the farm, staggering the species from late July to early September to make the harvesting process easier.

The Rogue Valley brings unique challenges for farmers in the form of irrigation and hot temperatures.

“Obviously it’s changed tremendously. It used to be covered in pear and peach orchards and there’s been a large shift in agriculture, so water is challenging, land is challenging, but it’s a blessing to be able to still operate a farm and give people that positive experience to be able to come out and enjoy something like this,” Hunter said. “I think water is probably the biggest challenge, because you see a real shift and what’s going on there. Every year is a water-challenged year.”

Sugar Plum Acres’ land was first tilled by Hunter’s grandfather in 1925, with his family continuing that legacy into the 21st century.

“It’s a blessing, it’s a gift. It’s God’s gift and you want to treat it with respect and honor, and honor those that came before you,” Hunter said of continuing that heritage. “It’s definitely in my parents’ heart to provide fruit at a price that anyone can afford; that’s always been my dad’s heart.”

To learn more about Sugar Plum Acres, located at 1850 Pioneer Road, Talent, see sugarplumacres.info.

For updates on the opening day for the peach U-Pick, check the farm’s website, Instagram or call them at 541-535-1563.

“Just seeing the little kids out in the trees eating cherries, eating peaches and just having fun with their families, that’s what it’s all about,” Hunter said.