'Movin' to the country, gonna eat a lot of peaches...' When picking peaches, The Presidents of the United States song inevitably replays itself in the minds of those of us of a certain age. After visiting Branstool Orchards near Utica, Ohio, visitors of any age can't help but end up with a lot of peaches to eat.

Branstool is an easy one hour drive from central Columbus. Their large showroom is surrounded by an equally large parking lot. Prepared goods are displayed alongside pre-picked homegrown fruit.

Visitors are encouraged to enjoy the scenic hilly farm and pick their own peaches. Owner Marshall or another knowledgeable farm stand worker shares baskets and the location of the ripe peaces at the show room. Branstool also offers wagons to carry children and full peach baskets on the walk back from the orchard.

The red star peach crop available on August 1 was a five minute walk down and back up a hill past a cattail lined pond. The orchard does not offer drive-up picking.

The fifteen to twenty foot trees are filled with peaches. With no ladders available, children and adults alike climb the strong twisted trunks to reach sun ripened fruit on tall branches. It is a cinch to fill a 1 peck box, approximately 14 pounds, in fifteen minutes.

Branstool charges $1/pound of u-pick peaches. At the New Albany Farmers Market in June, they offered a peck box at $15, nearly the same price as u-pick. Our u-pick peaches stayed fresh for over a week at room temperature while the market peaches did not fare as well.

Orchardist Marshall shared that he does not spray trees with insecticides but does use fungicide as necessary to keep peaches from rotting before they are ripe. A diversity of flowers, birds, and insects clearly make their home on the farm, a sign that chemicals are not over-used.

With 25 varieties of peaches and 30 varieties of apples planted, there is plenty of picking yet to come at Branstool. Call ahead to confirm what varieties are available on a given day. Combine your visit with a trip to Velvet Ice Cream's Ye Olde Mill a mere 5 miles away for an easy Ohio food adventure.

This Branstool Orchard review is part of Peach Week at Hounds in the Kitchen. Use fresh peaches to make our peach cobbler recipe or the juice for the Momo Sake cocktail. Thursday and Friday's posts will be all about canning.