By Matthew Pruitt
Plump, sweet peaches fresh off the branch permeate the air with the luscious aroma of summer orchards in a big red barn.
The big Red Barn, whose visage can be seen off the side of I-15 in Santaquin, is a haven for fresh fruit and homemade goods.
Peach season is picking up at the Red Barn. The fresh fruit is picked right off South Ridge Farms, across the street from the Red Barn, and then kept fresh inside of a large walk-in refrigerator.
The Rowley family owns and supplies the Red Barn using the fruit from their farms, South Ridge Farms.
'It''s a family operation,' said Tod Rowley, part owner of the South Ridge Farms operations. 'My great-grandfather came up from Mexico in 1912 and started growing fruit.'
Rowley''s great-grandfather, Moses Aaron Rowley, originally began his farming where Timpview High School now stands. The farm subsequently moved to Orem where it stayed until, finally, in the ''50s, he moved his farm out to Santaquin.
Among the other fresh foods produced at the Red Barn are ice cream, fudge, jam, salsa, apple juice and kettle corn.
'We also make cider slush here from our fresh apples,' said Catherine Hales, 18, employee at the Red Barn and future BYU student, enrolled for Fall Semester.
A lot of people also come to the Red Barn for the kettle corn, said Melissa Hales, 17, who works with her sister Catherine at the Red Barn.
Most of the employees have connections with the owners of the Red Barn, she said.
The Red Barn hosts a small town atmosphere accentuated by its employment of family and friends and its regular customer base.
'A lot of old people come in here everyday,' Melissa said. 'Sometimes two times a day.'
Paul Terry, a resident of Santaquin, used to work for Rowley South Ridge Farms and is now a faithful and consistent customer at the Red Barn.
'I like the yogurt-covered cherries and I like the ice cream,' Terry said. 'It''s just a great place to come.' Terry also mentioned his wife''s affinity for the almond brittle and the freshly grown asparagus.
The Red Barn brings out its cherries each year toward the end of June, peaches at the end of July, apples toward the end of August and asparagus around April.
Customers at the Red Barn each have their own reasons for visiting.
Most of the people who come buy the ice cream, Melissa Hales said.
The Red Barn sells several flavors of its own ice cream, and it carries Aggie Ice Cream, Utah''s trademark brand.
Also popular among Red Barn customers are the cherry products.
'A lot of people get the cherry concentrate and they use it for arthritis and gout,' Melissa Hales said.
Tart cherries are 10 times stronger than ibuprofen and help you sleep better, said several employees at the Red Barn.
'Tart cherries contain 17 different anti-oxidants,' Rowley said. And the tart cherry season is right now in full swing.