For everyone who doesn’t want to be stuck eating Bill Gates’ synthetic food, the loss of farmland is a serious problem. 

Fruit trees are especially vulnerable. They require a particular climate, take 5-7 years to mature after planting, and have a 30-year lifespan. A fruit harvest is truly the result of a long and patient investment. The destruction of one orchard for curb-and-gutter development is a permanent loss. 

One of Utah’s last stretches of fruit-producing land is in North Salt Lake along Highway 89 from Ogden to Brigham City — a stretch known as the Fruit Highway. These orchards are still big producers for consumers in Utah and in Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana, where frosts come too late for most fruit to grow. Fruit and vegetables can be purchased right off the farm at the Fruit Highway’s many farm stands, which are as popular today as they were for our parents and grandparents.

TAGGE’S FAMOUS FRUIT AND VEGGIE FARMS

“You’re never gonna take down a house and put in a peach tree,” says Cari Tagge, who goes by the job description of “farmer’s wife.” She and husband Thayne Tagge understand the commercial value of their 120 acres in Box Elder County but have put the land in a Legacy Trust to protect it from development. Two of their four children, Lori and Chad, and their families also work the farm and will inherit the business. 

“Other farmers here say we’ll probably be the last ones because we have kids who will do it,” Thayne says. 

Tagge’s flagship stand is on Hwy 89 in Perry, where they offer homegrown produce, jam and salsa, and other local items. They also staff nine farmstands peppered throughout the Salt Lake Valley, Park City, and Kamas. They bring produce to 18 farmer’s markets each week and sell to Whole Foods.

“We try to grow everything,” Cari says. Tree fruit includes 27 varieties of peaches including fun donut peaches; cherries, apricots, pears, and apples. They also grow organic blackberries and about a dozen kinds of vegetables.

If you want to take your homeschool group on an orchard tour, this is the farm to call. “He loves when people want a tour,” Cari says of Thayne. “He’s got such a passion for it.”  

PETTINGILL’S FRUIT FARM 

When asked when he and his sister Jean are going to retire from farming, Steven Pettingill says never, “cause we’re having so much fun.” 

Steven does farming and sales while Jean operates Pettingill’s fruit stand on Hwy 89 in Willard. The stand brims with Pettingill’s cherries, peaches, apples, and vegetables. They also have house-label canned goods, salad dressings, Salsa Sisters products, taffy, and fruit shakes. Gossner’s “squeaky cheese” makes an appearance, as do Yoder’s donuts and whoopee pies and Jack’s Bread. Pettingill’s melons can be found at Harmon’s. 

Bulk sales are also available. “I just sent probably 2,000 pounds of cherries to Wyoming,” Steven says. “They just get the church members together and make a run to Utah to get produce.” 

It’s a sweet surprise to see Jean’s grandkids working at Pettingill’s farm stand like kids in the old days. They sort and package fruit on site and pose for Facebook pictures. 

“We started in 1947 when my dad got out of the Navy, and we’ve been growing our own produce for that long,” Steven says. He notes that the amount of fruit grown in Utah isn’t on the economic radar. “There’s a tremendous amount of things that people don’t realize are being grown,” he says, adding, “Money grown here is money staying here.” 

GRAMMY’S FRUIT AND PRODUCE

Jordan Riley grew up on an orchard in Payson and returned to farming after teaching school. “I’ve got three daughters,” he says, “It’s an opportunity for them to work with me. They’ve all ridden co-pilot on the forklift since they were babies.”

The girls have benefitted by growing up on a farm, and the oldest works in the market. “We’ve never had to ask them to eat more fruit,” Jordan says. “It’s more like we’re telling them to put down the tenth apricot and eat their hot dog.” He thinks there’s something to the idea of picking your own produce. “If you’re growing food in the backyard, the likelihood of kids eating vegetables out of the garden versus out of the grocery store is higher,” he says. “I think the proximity to the natural is alluring.”

Grammy’s participated in a food advocate council with the Utah Legislature, resulting in several programs to increase awareness of farm stands and markets. Now, Double Up Food Bucks triples the value of SNAP benefits when used at a farm stand; SFMNP offers farm market vouchers to seniors; and Produce Rx allows a doctor to prescribe farm market vegetables for health. 

Grammy’s property started as a dairy farm run by the Lemon Brothers and transitioned to tree fruit and row crops in the 80s. “We’re perfectly located,” Riley says, noting that Grammy’s is the second stand northbound on I-89 in Willard.

OTHER VENDORS

Other notable Fruit Highway farm stands include Peach Place, Lemus Farms, Sumida’s, Woodyatt Cherry Farm, and Gray’s Orchard. Some have full stands and others offer produce on the honor system.

Willard’s Peach Days Festival is one of the oldest-running and most popular fruit festivals in the country. It’s held the weekend after Labor Day as the culmination of the year’s harvest. Visit this year and give Utah’s fruit producers an appreciative squeeze.

Feature Image: Cari and Thayne Tagge in one of their orchards. Photo by Bryan Butterfield.