The dryland peach market in Penedès that France would like to have in its squares

Saint Paul of OrdalIt's a hot, very hot summer Saturday, and in Subirats Square in Sant Pau de Ordal, there's a crowd of people carrying crates of vineyard and red peaches. Some are carrying carts, with exposed iron frames, on which they place a few crates, one on top of the other. The murmur of voices from vendors and buyers mingles with the summer songs playing from the loudspeakers of the local swimming pool, located next door, which bears the name "La Casa de los Niños" (The House of the Kings). MacarelletaWe're not in Menorca, but we are in a self-managed market run by farmers that France would love for its markets. The Sant Pau de Ordal peach market has been held for twenty years from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday and Sunday from June to September. These peaches don't have any Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) seal, but "we don't need much, because we've made our name, the Ordal seal, which has spread everywhere," say the farmers.

At every stand, protected by a thick awning, there are peaches. What varies is the name of the producer, written on the wooden box where the fruit is placed. It's hard to say which of the dozen or so farmers in the square has the best peaches, because at first glance, they're all firm, large, and of good diameter. Just seeing them makes you want to sink your teeth into them. I stop at the Les Filos stand, the two sisters from Lavern who decided to join forces with their father, Josep Maria Olivella Rosell, producer of Olivella Font Clara peaches. I tell Imma Olivella Font, one of the sisters, that I met them through the cook Carme Ruscalleda, who let me try the peaches in syrup, the jam, and the peach itself at the beloved Sant Pau restaurant. "It must have been in 2010, because they bought from us through a grocer we supplied," Imma says. She has some burns on the fingers of one hand, and says that's what comes with making jams. "It's a craft; we do everything ourselves," she comments. She's a graphic designer by trade, and when she joined her family business, she brought her art to the market: she designed the programs, signage, advertising, and the names of the posters advertising the market.

It's long gone back to June 2005, when they first began setting up stalls in Subirats Square. "We would never have done it without the encouragement of cava producer Pere Guilera, who believed in the idea and encouraged us to do it, something we didn't believe in," says Imma Olivella, along with Josep Esteve and Josep Ràfols, two other producers who joined the conversation, also with stalls at the market. They listened to Pere Guilera, and it wasn't all plain sailing at the beginning, because they remember that in the early years they would read entire newspapers and books sitting at the stall, due to the limited work available.

That's not the case now. The Ordal peach market has grown so much that the City Council has had to bring order to the chaos of cars entering the town. There's now a public parking lot and security to ease traffic. During peak hours, cars have to wait to enter.

The producers sell all the peaches they have at the stand, and they would sell more if they had them, because there comes a time when they run out, when there are no more. And this point needs to be explained because the producers pick the peaches from Sant Pau de Ordal at the very point of ripeness. They spend many years monitoring the peach trees, and that's why the producers know which peaches are ready to be picked and eaten and which aren't. They don't pick unripe ones, because the quality is lost. So this is the reason why there comes a time when both Saturday and Sunday are gone, and there are no more until the following weekend.

Cherries or apricots, scallops

At the stalls, along with vineyard peaches and red peaches, there are also other fruits for sale by farmers, such as cherries and apricots. These aren't easy to find because the market specializes in peaches, and farmers must notify the managing association if they also want to sell other products they grow. If they notify the farmers, if the produce is from their fields, then they can do so. These are strict rules drawn up twenty years ago by the village farmers themselves, the only ones allowed to sell in the Sant Pau de Ordal square.

I resume the conversation with Imma Olivella, from Les Filos, and ask her the reason for the name. "Because it's the name of one of our farms, surrounded by peach trees. When we chose it and started, the two sisters were at a professional stage, as freelancers, where we needed to work more, diversify our jobs," recalls Imma, who adds that the decision was accompanied by a lot of work. They went to the Jam Museum in the town of Torrent with Georgina Regàs to learn how to make it, and today their peaches in syrup and jams stand out for their high quality. "Everything is very artisanal, look at the burn mark on my hand; we do everything ourselves, and it's hard for us to get ahead and make a profit! The other day they fined us €1,000 because we put the expiration date on the back of the jars, and it shouldn't go there," Imma comments.

Dressed in a black T-shirt that says "Les Filos," she and her nieces sell boxes of peaches and also the three types of jam: peach with yellow plum, red peach with mint, and flat peach with red plum. "Peaches are the lifeblood of my father, who is 77 years old. We've joined in, but it's a very hard, volatile job, because you're always looking at the sky, and things are always happening," Imma points out. Among the things that happen is the drought, which for dryland peaches (in Lleida, they're irrigated) is hard, very hard. There are also comforting moments, like when customers tell them they can't find such a good peach anywhere else, that the taste reminds them of their childhood. With these phrases, the farmers reinforce their self-esteem and the idea they work with: picking peaches from the tree at their peak. The journey is short. It's only a short distance from the peach orchards in Subirats d'Ordal Square; perhaps no other market is as close to home.

Along with Imma, Josep Esteve, from the Esteve Ràfols family, and Josep Ràfols listened attentively. Both explained that the dry-farmed peaches from Ordal cannot compete with those from Lleida, which are irrigated, and that is why production increases fivefold for each hectare cultivated. "The market price crisis encouraged us to create the Subirats Producers Association, together with the market, which the City Council and the Tourist Board supported from the beginning," they explain. At the time, the Board was headed by Pere Guilera, the producer of the DO Cava, whose name is constantly repeated because he was the visionary who believed in the market at a time when they were very skeptical.

Finally, we talk about sales. Peaches are sold in boxes of between 16 and 30 euros. If the box is small, then the peaches are larger. And the prices, depending on the box, range from 6 to 16 euros. "Some people come to the market and tell us they haven't seen any peach trees on the road, as if it weren't true that the peaches were from our town," Esteve and Ràfols comment. To combat these ideas, because you can certainly see vineyards on the road, in spring they organize walks between rows and rows of peach trees in bloom; a truly magical experience that makes you want to try the fruit in summer. Josep Esteve is one of those who participates, and the activity is one more that adds to the tourist life of Sant Pau de Ordal, where there is a bread oven (which is rented and makes some very good cakes), high-end restaurants (Cal Xim, Can Pau Xic, Cal Pere del Maset, Centro Agrícola) and more.

A final note for those who want to go to the market: the hours are from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and the producers don't accept orders or reservations on their website. They don't do so because there have been days when all the boxes were taken, and people who went to Subirats Square couldn't find a single one for sale. So, it's first come, first served. And a recommendation for what to eat: with skin, without skin, by the bite, knife-cut, grilled, or baked with chicken. And if not, ask at the town's restaurants, which also buy them at the market and cook them in a thousand and one dishes.