Butterflies & Peach Celebration at Sickles Market

A release from :

Sickles Market, Little Silver, will hold its annual Butterfly and Peaches Celebration, Saturday, August 13 from 2 – 5 p.m. The celebration’s mission is to create awareness about the very special, delicious New Jersey peach, its many varieties, preparations made with fresh peaches and products made from peaches such as preserves jams and salsas. Several activities are scheduled including the highly anticipated annual butterfly release. All activities are free and the times are as follows:

2-5 p.m. Peach tastings, grilling demonstrations.

3:30 – 4 p.m. Corn shucking contest with categories for adults and children.

4 p.m. The spectacular butterfly release of approximately 100 butterflies.

“Jersey Peaches are a seasonal delicacy,” explained Bob Sickles, third generation owner of Sickles Market, Little Silver. “They are picked at high maturity - which means they have more sugar, are larger and better tasting than peaches grown in other states – and delivered directly to our market. It’s the freshness and the seasonality that makes Jersey peaches so special. So eat a peach and keep our farmers farming,” he said.

The connection between peaches and butterflies are many:

First, insects such as honey bees and butterflies play a pivotal role in the maturation of most fruit trees and other fruit bearing plants. They help to cross-pollinate pollen from one tree to another insuring that the flowers are pollinated and will produce fruit; second, both peaches and butterflies are fully developed and plentiful in August; third, it is fascinating and educational, and so much fun to watch as they go through miraculous metamorphosis from caterpillar to chrysalis, and then, emerging as a magnificent butterfly.

The Painted Lady butterfly caterpillars are shipped to the market in late July and have been on display in the butterfly pavilion located in the balmy greenhouse, the perfect environment for developing caterpillars. Painted Lady butterflies are native to the Jersey shore and can be found in our gardens, along roadsides and in fields.  Also on display in Sickles garden center are flowering plants with special identification that attract these beautiful and helpful insects to your garden or yard such as the Butterfly Bush (Buddleia davidii) pictured above.

And the corn husking contest connection?

It’s just for fun, pure and simple. The “corny” competition is scheduled for 3:30. Participants will be judged by how many ears of corn they can shuck within a given amount of time. There will be categories for adults and for children. Sign up at the Market is required. All events are free.

Butterfly Viewing 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Grilling and food tastings Noon – 4:30 p.m.

Kids’ face painting 2 – 4:30 p.m.

Corn-shucking contest 3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Butterfly release 4 p.m.

Big sales throughout the store 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Sickles Market – sharing quality since 1908, is a third generation family-owned market and a trusted source for well-edited quality selections of produce, baked goods, gourmet grocery items, hand cut-to-order artisanal cheeses, butcher department, prepared foods, cut flowers, a garden center, and a gift boutique. Sickles Market is located on ancestral property that dates back to a King’s Land Grant in 1663. www.sicklesmarket.com; http://sicklesmarket.blogspot.com/ www.facebook.com/Sickles-Market  www.twitter.com/SicklesMarket