A working family orchard in Calhoun County.
Calhoun County is a thin peninsula of farmland tucked between the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, with no interstate and no big-box anything. You get here by ferry or by the long way around. That is exactly why the peaches are worth it.
Off the beaten path, on purpose.
There are no four-lane highways into Calhoun County. The rivers wrap around it on three sides, so the only ways in are a couple of bridges at the top and the ferries along the edge. What that buys you is quiet two-lane roads, river bluffs, and orchard after orchard.
Growing in Brussels since 1937.
Jake Hagen planted the first peach trees here in 1937. Three generations later, Debbie and Blake Kamp, a mother and son, run the stand about three miles from the Brussels Ferry landing. What is on the stand is what we grew, or what a neighbor down the road grew, and we can tell you which. Read more about our family.
Peaches, apples, pumpkins, and pies.
Summer is Calhoun County peaches and blackberries. All season there are fresh-baked weekend pies and ice cream. Fall brings apples, pumpkins, and a corn pit. We are open July through October.
Closer than the map makes it look.
From St. Louis it is about an hour, most of it pretty. See our day-trip guide or the ferry directions to plan the drive.