Utah's Fruit Way, Peach Days and seasonal food: what to eat when

Utah's food calendar follows its fruit. Orchards along the Wasatch Front, roadside stands in the north and farmers markets in the cities mark the year. Here are the seasons, with dates given as ranges because weather moves them, and three places to start: the Fruit Way near Brigham City, Peach Days and the Downtown Farmers Market.

What is the Fruit Way?

The Fruit Way is a ten-mile stretch of Old Highway 89 running south from Brigham City, between the towns of Perry and Willard, lined with fruit stands and orchards. Visit Utah describes it as an agricultural corridor cultivated for generations, and some stands are run by the same families across generations. It is a good place to buy peaches, apricots, apples, pears, tomatoes and other produce straight from the grower. The stands keep their own hours, which follow the harvest, so check before you drive. Many are closed on Sundays.

When is peach season, and what is Peach Days?

Visit Utah's guide gives peach season on the Fruit Way as roughly mid-August through October, though the season depends on the weather in a given year. Brigham City holds Peach Days, a festival on the weekend after Labor Day. Peach growing there has a long history. Expect a parade, food stands, a car show and crowds. If you want a quieter visit, go on a weekday morning in late August or September and buy at the stands.

What does the Salt Lake City farmers market offer?

The Downtown Farmers Market at Pioneer Park runs on Saturdays in the summer and fall. A late freeze in the spring can reduce the fruit supply in a given year, so vendors may sell more preserves, baked goods and prepared food. A winter market follows in the colder months, with a different location and schedule, so check before you go. Smaller neighborhood markets operate in Sugar House, Park City and other towns.

What is in season each month?

Late spring brings asparagus, rhubarb, greens and the first strawberries. Early summer has cherries, apricots and herbs. Midsummer has tomatoes, corn, zucchini and the first peaches. Late summer into early autumn is the high point: peaches, plums, pears, apples, peppers and melons. October brings apples, cider, squash and pumpkins, and corn mazes at family farms. Winter food is root vegetables, preserves, bread and hearty restaurant menus. These are general patterns, and the exact weeks shift by elevation and weather.

How does the season affect restaurants?

Restaurants with a farm connection change their menus with the harvest. In summer, expect salads with tomatoes and peaches, and in autumn, squash soups and apple desserts. In winter, menus are heavier, and ski towns focus on lodge food and comfort dishes. Many diners and bakeries sell fruit pies in late summer. If you like seasonal menus, ask the server what is new this week.

What about the Wasatch Back and the south?

Park City and the Heber Valley have their own markets in summer and fall, and Heber has farm stands. Southern Utah has apricot, peach and apple orchards near Capitol Reef, where the park lets visitors pick fruit in season for a small fee under rules that change. Springdale and Torrey have fewer markets, but roadside stands appear in harvest season. The guide to Utah national park dining in this series gives more advice for the south.

How do you buy well at a fruit stand?

Look at the fruit, smell it and ask what variety it is. Freestone peaches separate easily from the pit, while clingstone peaches do not, and each suits a different use. Ask what is ripe today, and what is best for eating, canning or baking. Bring cash, since some stands do not take cards, and bring a cooler in the summer. Do not wash fruit until you are ready to eat it, and keep ripe peaches in the refrigerator for a few days.

What are good seasonal treats to try?

A fresh peach with a little cream. A fruit pie from a bakery. Apple cider with a cider doughnut. Roasted sweet corn from a stand. Fry sauce on fries is a year-round treat, as is a scone with honey butter. In the winter, hot chocolate after skiing is its own seasonal ritual.

Weather shapes every plan in this guide. A spring freeze can wipe out much of a season's fruit in a single night, which is why prices and supply vary from year to year, and a warm autumn can stretch the season. Smoke from summer wildfires can keep people indoors for days, which is a good reason to have a flexible plan and an indoor option. If you have a particular fruit in mind, call the stand or check its social page before you drive, because a stand that was full of peaches last week may be selling apples now.

How do you keep track of Utah's seasonal food favorites?

Peaches in August, apples in October and a scone with honey butter in January are all worth a note. Mosey is a food app for finding, rating and sharing places to eat, and it rates by the dish, so you can score the peach pie from a bakery and the cider doughnut from a stand and tag each with its month.

Share a seasonal list with friends through an invite link and follow the people who drive the Fruit Way every year. Mosey also runs seasonal food votes, a natural fit for a state whose food calendar follows its fruit.

Rate this season's best bite in the Mosey app.

More guides to read next:

• Are Utah restaurants open on Sundays? What to expect and how to plan
• Utah restaurants open on holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas and Pioneer Day
• Utah food words: fry sauce, pastrami burgers and funeral potatoes

More in the US food guides and the ranked lists of places.