Pickin’ Peaches at Pickett’s Harbor Farms: Get ‘Em Now!

Tammy Nottingham started picking peaches at age 10 and never slowed down. (Wave photo by Sarah Gollibart)

Tammie Nottingham started picking peaches at age 10 and never slowed down. (Wave photo by Sarah Golibart)

By SARAH GOLIBART
Cape Charles Wave

August 9, 2013

With a large gleaming peach in each hand, Tammie Nottingham stands regally in her orchard on Pickett’s Harbor Farms just south of the Town of Cape Charles. With tears in her eyes but a smile that never seems to leave her face, she admires her peach trees as she tells the girls that pick for her to “sculpt the baskets” and “have fun” in the orchard that she and her husband, W.T., planted 13 years ago.

Tammie began picking peaches when she was 10 years old in South Carolina. From around 1990 until about five years ago, she picked the entire peach orchard at Pickett’s Harbor. By that time the farm’s bounty exceeded even her veteran picking abilities.

“It all happened by word of mouth,” explained Tammie. Her first helper was a local, Christine Tankard, and over the years more have signed on to help harvest. There are 500-600 peach trees in the orchard, with more than 10 varieties that begin ripening in early summer and last until the first week of September.

“Five years ago, we moved from the corner of my porch and my kitchen to the farm shed,” Tammie noted. That’s where they now sell all their locally grown produce including tomatoes, watermelon, blackberries, and cantaloupe, to name a few.

Tammie, however, does not take credit for the farm’s success. “I would like to give the glory to my husband W.T.” she said. “He takes care of everything on this farm.”

“Both W.T.’s and my family are generational here on the Shore,” Tammie continued. “We’ve been here since people first came here.” She went on to relate that both her and W.T.’s families can be traced back to Martha Custis Washington. She and W.T. are the fifth generation of Nottinghams to work the farm, with their son Josh Nottingham being the sixth and granddaughter Carlee Parker the seventh.

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The farm keeps the family busy, so trips into the Town of Cape Charles are infrequent. But Tammie expressed appreciation on behalf of the Nottingham family for the support of local restaurants including Aqua, Cape Charles Coffee House, Kelly’s Gingernut Pub, and the Shanty – all of which serve fresh Pickett’s Harbor Farms produce.

The first two weeks of August are the height of the season for most varieties of peaches, and Pickett’s Harbor Farms has peaches for eating, baking, freezing, or canning that should best be purchased now before the harvest begins to taper off. Tammie and her family welcome everyone to come on down to Pickett’s Harbor – and hopefully, buy some peaches.

Pickett's Harbor Farms have

Pickett’s Harbor Farms sell tomatoes, eggplant, cantaloupe, corn, you name it — oh, did we mention peaches? (Wave photo by Sarah Golibart)

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7 Responses to “Pickin’ Peaches at Pickett’s Harbor Farms: Get ‘Em Now!”

  1. Nancy Garrett on August 9th, 2013 7:49 am

    I go to the market so often I bring my own basket. The cucumbers are especially wonderful — none of that yucky wax they put on them in the stores. I used to have a garden. Now I have Pickett’s Harbor to shop — I don’t miss growing my own so much. Fresh cucumber and tomato sandwiches for lunch are one of the blessings of the season.

  2. Deborah Bender on August 9th, 2013 9:54 am

    Without a doubt the best peaches I have ever eaten. Many thanks to the Nottinghams for keeping this wonderful family business going!

  3. Trixie Miller on August 9th, 2013 1:50 pm

    Tammie and W. T. truly love the land. Anyone who has ever lived in a farm family knows that you can’t farm successfully if you don’t love the land. Farming is a very demanding life and you are at the mercy of nature. It has been a joy to watch the farm stand grow from their back porch to the current “store”.

  4. Joe Vaccaro on August 11th, 2013 9:18 am

    Really nice story. Thank you!

  5. Linda Leuer on August 11th, 2013 1:49 pm

    Oh my gosh! Pickett’s Harbor Farms sounds wonderful. My favorite fruit is a fresh, juicy, ripe peach. I’d love to sample the different kinds they have. My mother always canned crates of them when I was young. I’d sneak a few fresh, ripe ones to eat. :) We visit our son, daughter-in-law & granddaughter in Cape Charles 2-3 times a year now. We will HAVE to visit in August and stop in for peaches! Thanks for the article.

  6. Mimi Sadler on August 18th, 2013 12:42 pm

    Pickett’s Harbor Farm’s fruit and vegetables have kept us happy all summer. We are driving back to Richmond so glad we will have some Pickett’s Harbor peaches, tomatoes, and green beans to remind us of the shore!

  7. Christina Sanderlin-Cornejo on August 7th, 2015 5:55 pm

    We were just @ Pickett’s Harbor and purchased TONS of delicious produce….. LOVE the A M A Z I N G peach cobbler it is to die for…….. That would also be great with apples (hint hint!! LOL) Look forward to my next visit…