Reeves peach farm expands with new stand 

In the 1800s the Reeves planted their first peach tree, which would grow into the well-known peach stand off Highway 36. Now, generations later, the farm has continued to grow and expand to a new fruit stand that will be bringing food, ice cream and additional options to the family farm.

David Reeves and his brother are fourth-generation farmers and are working to bring their father’s vision of expansion to fruition. Reeves said the new stand, which will be opening either this fall or early spring, will make additional items possible. 

“First of all, it is going to have a commercial kitchen, which we are going to use to have food,” Reeves explained. “We will have ice cream, homemade with our fruit. Then we are going to have all our normal stuff too, but we will have more because we will have all the extra space. 

“We might have some bakery-type things too, like breads and peach cobblers,” Reeves added. 

The new stand will feature a wraparound porch and an air conditioned interior and is a short distance from the current stand. Reeves said he hopes to have either blueberries or muscadines around the porch and to keep the stand at the center of the farm. “I really want to have people involved,” Reeves said. “It is really going to be in the heart of the farm. You are going to step out of the door into the strawberry patch.” 

Reeves said the family has been farming peaches since 1959 but can trace the farm’s history back to the first tree, planted in the 1800s. He said with the expansion, they plan to continue the tradition of locally-grown produce. 

“What we are mainly known for is having tree-ripened fruit. We let it get as ripe as it can on the tree, and then we pick it. It really makes a difference in the quality of the fruit,” he explained. “Also our strawberries bring a lot of people here. I guess it is the authenticity. 

“I try to grow everything I can that we sell here in the stand,” he added. “These are variety specific; you know where they come from. It’s farm to table, and people want to know where their food comes from – that’s a big movement.” 

Reeves said the new stand has really been his father’s vision. “When I came back from working in Montgomery, me and my brother teamed up and decided we wanted to really grow the fruit stand. We saw that the demand was growing and that we were handicapped here. We can only do so much,” Reeves said. “So we are really, really excited it is going to have a lot more cooler space and freezer. It’s a lot of stuff you wouldn’t see here, but it is really going to help our flow.”

The stand is located at 447 Highway 36 in Hartselle, and the new structure is under construction. “It is just going to be a bigger and better fruit stand,” Reeves said.