EVERYTHING WAS PEACHY at First English Lutheran Church in Faribault on Tuesday. Literally.
Boxes of stacked peaches awaited pick-up in the basement during the annual peach sale benefiting the congregation’s youth. They’d sold 560 boxes delivered from family-owned Noland Orchards in Colorado.
“People love Colorado peaches,” said Ane Mentz, church administrator. And they must given the sale of seven pallets, or 11,200 pounds, of the stone fruit, if you’re counting. That’s the max First English could order and they sold out of the 20-pound pre-ordered boxes.
Buyers included the piemakers at Trinity Lutheran Church, blocks away from First English. The volunteers will make homemade pies from 10 boxes of peaches purchased during the sale.
Another buyer, a home brewer, bought 20 boxes of peaches to craft beer. He’s been buying for years, upping the quantity each season, said Mentz.
And, in the past, a local restaurant ordered peaches to create menu items.
First English sells the 20-pound boxes for $38 or half a box for $19, a substantial reduction from the going fruit truck rate of $60, according to Mentz. The church keeps the price lower, she said, because they want to offer fresh fruit and healthy food to people “without breaking the bank.”
For some 20 summers, this congregation has been selling Colorado peaches, which usually arrive in early August. This year the peaches came early, Mentz said, due to a short winter and early blooms.
Buyers arrived Tuesday to pay for and pick up their peaches from youth and other volunteers. Youth ages three to seniors in high school bank their money for upcoming church-sanctioned activities like mission and camping trips.
Phoebe Sanchez, who helps with Sunday School and who was assisting at the peach pick-up, recently returned from a church trip to Montana. That’s just a skip of a state away from Colorado and Noland Orchards, source of all those fresh peaches in the basement of First English.
© Copyright 2026 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Yum! Love Colorado peaches.
Waiting for our first few to ripen and then enjoy.
Oh My Goodness – YUM! I will take a peach brew please. I love a good peach crisp over pie with a little goat cheese, fig jam, and honey – good on a pizza too (along with apples and pears on pizzas I have home made). I wonder if the pie makers use lard because that makes the best dough to crust up. Now I am hungry. Happy Day – ENJOY 🙂
I will need to find a recipe for peach crisp. Would an apple crisp recipe work? I think the piemakers use Crisco. Probably can’t use lard due to health regulations. I will have to ask my friend who heads up the piemakers. The food combo you suggest sounds delicious!
I just take an apple crisp recipe and use stone fruits, pears, really good grapes, figs, berries, rhubarb, etc. Choose your fruit adventure-ha!
Thanks for the tips. Love your phrase of “choose your fruit adventure.”
Ah, Peaches! Must be summer!
Late summer at that.
Mmm Fresh fruit pies. That’s a great deal for a huge box of fruit
It does seem like a good deal. We got 20 peaches in our half box, plenty for us and to share with family coming next week for a visit.