• HOME
  • small food ideas
    • meal planning + prep
    • kitchen basics
    • hospitality
    • foodie finds
    • live happily
  • recipes
    • breakfast + brunch
    • appetizers + snacks
    • salads
    • soups + stews
    • side dish
    • main dish
    • desserts
    • drinks
  • NWAFOODIE
  • SHOP
  • About
    • Privacy Policy
  • CONTACT
Simple Joyful Food

small ideas that add joy to life

NWAFOODIE

Where can you find peaches in Northwest Arkansas? Vanzants!

July 1, 2012 8 Comments
nwafoodie peaches

We hit the turn signal at Wagon Wheel Road off of Hwy 540 in Northwest Arkansas, dreams of freshly-picked peaches from Vanzant Fruit Farm dancing in our minds. Will they have white peaches? Free stone? Will it be air conditioned in this triple-digit weather?

My anticipation was growing as fast as the growling in my stomach.

Once on Wagon Wheel Road, we headed east, staying on Hwy 264 for a measly two miles.  Two miles!  Yes, it only took two miles off the highway to indulge in freshly picked peaches of seventeen varieties to my heart’s content?  Why have I not been here before?  Why am I not here every single day between now and August when those peaches ripen?

nwafoodie

Dennis and I had the day off on Tuesday, so naturally “job #1” was to visit the Vanzant Fruit Farm in Lowell.  We took this drive on Sunday and found, to our dismay, that it was closed. On Tuesday, we were armed and ready.  The back seat was like a prop house, armed with coolers.

They were beckoning and practically *begging* for juicy fresh peaches.

So was I.

We pulled in the parking lot, strolled in with our best we-do-this-all-the-time-and-no-we-weren’t-too-eager look, took a deep breath and sighed.

We were home.

nwafoodie peaches

Peaches, peaches, peaches, peaches!  They were everywhere! Immediately my mind began to sing “millions of peaches, peaches for me.”

I had a mission to find free stone peaches.  Yep, that’s right, I was going to can peaches for my very first time and free stone’s were the ones to get.

We found them right away!  Vanzant’s had three free stone varieties available and ready to go. All I had to do was choose one.

nwafoodie peaches
June Haven Free Stone
nwafoodie peaches
Loring Free Stone
nwafoodie peaches
These are the ones I picked, the “007 Free Stone.” Why, because I like the name… why else?

And then we saw it… yes!  They had white peaches!  Of course we had to buy them! Dennis’s family lived next to a white peach orchard in the Central California Valley and white peaches were always a treat.  They are similar to a free stone yet juicier, mellower, and, dare I say, they have more “depth.”

They are too-die-for.

nwafoodie peaches
White Nectar

Happily, we purchased one ½ peck of the 007 free stones and ½ peck of the white nectar and waved our goodbye to the fruit farm staff.

If you are wondering how that works out financially, one ½ peck was $7.50 and I canned five pints of peaches.  That means one pint cost $1.50 worth of fruit.

Not bad, not bad.

We waved our goodbyes to the fruit farm staff and headed back towards the freeway and past the 4,000 fruit trees producing seventeen varieties of peaches. This farm has been selling peaches for over one hundred years and is one of our backyard treasures.

nwafoodie peaches

You’re in luck because those seventeen varieties will be providing fruit for Northwest Arkansas now through August.

You’ve got time.  

They’re bursting full of sweet summer delight and humbly waiting for you to partake of their goodness.

Are you in?

Eat well, my friends.  Eat well.

Lyndi

twitter

facebook

pinterest

google+

 

P.S.  Do you live near Bella Vista?  Good news for you!  Allen’s Market stocks Vanzant Fruit Farms peaches —  come get them while they are available! Just $1.49 a pound.

nwafoodie peaches

 

You might also like...

Arkansas Peach Season ends this week (canning time)! Carolyn’s top 15 gluten-free restaurants in Northwest Arkansas. Default Thumbnail10 Northwest Arkansas food blogs you should be reading in 2012.

Share

Share
Tweet
Email
Pin
Comment
Previous
Next

Comments Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




  1. Angie says

    July 1, 2012 at 9:35 pm

    I LOVE VANZANTS! Best peaches ever. I can't say it enough or with enough capitalization. I LOVE VANZANTS. Best peaches ever!!!!! I also just LOVE supporting their farms and orchards. Their other produce and products like jams, jelly, honey, etc. is also outstanding.

    Reply
    • nwafoodie says

      July 2, 2012 at 1:11 am

      Thanks Angie! I saw all their other products but did not buy any… YET! I'm definitely getting my next honey there, that is for sure!!

      Lyndi

      Reply
  2. Cary says

    July 3, 2012 at 7:44 pm

    this is awesome, so close and so fresh. Thanks for finding this place

    Reply
    • nwafoodie says

      July 3, 2012 at 11:39 pm

      And, it is only 1 exit south of where you work! Sounds like it's a to-do during lunchtime!!

      Reply
  3. Silja says

    July 6, 2012 at 9:42 pm

    Silly question, but does "free stone" mean the peach doesn't have a stone in the middle? I have never heard of that before.

    Reply
    • nwafoodie says

      July 8, 2012 at 3:35 pm

      Not a silly question, at all! It means you get a free stone with it — kidding!

      Actually, it refers to a peach where the pit (aka peaches are considered a "stone fruit") is easy to separate from the flesh. There are some peaches out there where it is very sinewy and when you eat it, a lot of the flesh meat sticks to it. When you can using "free stone" it just means it is a peach where it is easy to remove the pit.

      Thanks for asking — there probably are a lot of people who are curious about that!

      Lyndi

      Reply
  4. Janet haberer says

    June 26, 2024 at 1:40 pm

    How much are your peaches

    Reply
    • Lyndi Fultz says

      August 1, 2024 at 6:40 am

      Hi Janet, I don’t actually sell peaches. Boy, I sure wish I did! That would mean I have unlimited access to peaches! Vanzant Peaches in Northwest Arkansas will hook you up – now’s the season!

      Reply

My name is Lyndi Fultz, and I live in the beautiful Ozark Mountains, which span Northwest Arkansas and Southwest Missouri.

I like to share small ideas for living simply and eating happily.

You will find that I talk a lot about food because we all need to eat. Why not add little bits of food joy where possible?

Read more

SJF social links

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Newsletter signup

Please wait...

Thank you for signing up!

search categories

Search by Year

Trending posts

Instagram

contact

lyndi@thejoyofeatingwell.com

inspiration

“Just like becoming an expert in wine–you learn by drinking it, the best you can afford–you learn about great food by finding the best there is, whether simply or luxurious. Then you savor it, analyze it, and discuss it with your companions, and you compare it with other experiences.” – Julia Child

Copyright 2025 thejoyofeatingwell