guardian.co.ukSo you might have cleared space on your balcony for a container garden, or even planted a little plot in your backyard. Still, you may not have the time, space, or expertise to branch out--say, with a peach tree, or an olive tree, or even a few pigs. But if you want a farm harvest without the farm, consider adoption. At the Masumoto Family Farm near Fresno, California--at times a supplier to Blue Hill, Per Se, and Chez Panisse--Elberta peach trees are available for "adoption." Each winter, prospective owners apply to own a peach tree; the Masumotos take care of planting, pruning, and raising your baby. Then at midsummer harvest, adopters come out to the farm to pick the trees... More

"Most people don't realize that POTUS's 'Peaches' is not a weird novelty rock song; rather, it is actually a thinly veiled critique of the anti-locavore movement." —Helen Rosner, MenuPages Chicago... More

Photo by clayirving on Flickr Is there anything better than biting into a perfectly ripe, sweet, and juicy peach? Maybe a bite of warm peach cobbler served with a scope of vanilla ice cream! Peaches typically peak during late June through July in the South, and July and August in the North. Look for peaches that have a uniform yellow background color, (golden yellow on yellow peaches, creamy yellow on white peaches) with no green around the stem. A ripe peach will yield slightly to pressure. Once ripe, they'll keep in the refrigerator for a few days. Here are a few recipes we think are worth trying this peach season: Peach Recipes Paige Denison's Deep-Dish Peach Cobbler [SE] Dorie Greenspan's... More

At Lane Southern Orchards, peaches are categorized by peak juicy date. In Georgia it’s now officially peach season, which runs until mid-August. This fluorescent orange-bordered sign inside the Lane Southern Orchards market shop in Fort Valley, Georgia, goes into more peach detail than the average stone fruit–eater probably knows. A peach is a peach is a peach, right? Not at this 2,700-acre peach orchard, where the varieties Lane Luck and Cary Mac are peachiest now. Inside the market, the drupe comes in multiple forms: butter, marmalade, salsa, and ice cream at the attached café. Lane Southern Orchards 50 Lane Road, Fort Valley, GA 31030 (map) 478-825-3362 lanesouthernorchards.com... More

Blackberry sorbet made with blackberries from Burkart Organics. For a former New Yorker there's a lot to get used to about Southern California life. For the first eight years I lived here I felt like a winter kale wilting in the summer sun. It took leaving and moving all over the country before I figured out that there's something truly special about Southern California. Rest assured it's not Lindsay Lohan. While to most people California is a postcard of beaches and palms trees, much of the Golden State is actually farmland, a fact that is reflected by the more than 50 certified farmers' markets in Los Angeles County alone. Perhaps the most famous of these markets is the one... More

Photograph from iStockPhoto.com What's the best peach you've ever eaten? Where was it grown? In mid-July, a Serious Eater's mind and stomach turn to peaches, as Jeffrey Steingarten's did a few years ago in Vogue. At least mine (and his) do. I have been on a lifelong search for the perfect peach, one that's so juicy you end up wearing it, one that has a perfect balance between sweetness and acidity. You might think that those of us who celebrate local food would pronounce the peach grown in our backyard the best, but I live in New York City, where there are precious few backyards. But I cannot say in good conscience and all honesty that the peaches grown... More

There are Georgia peaches (good), Texas peaches (good) Colorado peaches (very good), and even New York and New Jersey peaches (stellar every so often). But the best peaches, nectarines, plums, and cherries are from California and Washington. I know this may be disappointing to all of you Texas and Georgia natives, but it is the truth. I can prove it to you if you order peaches for your dad from Gold Bud Farms in Placerville, California. They won't be ready until July, but your dad will find it's worth the wait. These are the peaches of your dreams; drippingly juicy with the perfect balance of sweetness and acidity. If it's juicy, sweet, bursting-with-flavor cherries you're after, the folks at... More

You'd think Stephen Colbert would be a happy man in 2007 because Ben & Jerry's gave him his own ice cream flavor, Stephen Colbert's Americone Dream, but instead he's hopping mad—accusing country music legend Willie Nelson of stealing his time in the spotlight by launching his own Ben & Jerry's flavor. Called "Willie Nelson's Country Peach Cobbler," it's peach ice cream with cinnamon-sugar shortbread pieces. Rolling Stone's Irina Ageyeva talked to a Ben & Jerry's spokesman about Willie's new ice cream and asked how the company chooses whom to bestow custom flavors on. Apparently "artists are deemed flavor-worthy on the basis of their humanitarian efforts. The more do-good, environment-friendly, help-the-kids-in-Africa stuff you have on your resume, the better the... More