Fresh Peaches
Imagine having a whole box of fresh peaches to share with your family. Eat them at the kitchen table nice and neat, or out on the lawn with juice dripping off your elbow! You could freeze or can some too. Most peaches are heavily sprayed, but we buy from growers that follow IPM practices and spray minimally, so you can feel good about giving our peaches to your children. Sometimes, we offer organic peaches, too.
How To Order Peaches With Us
We offer peaches starting as early as May and as late as August or September. You can see what's available now by checking our current order forms, or sign up on our email list, and we'll notify you when it is time to order.
What's a Freestone Peach?
Freestone peaches have a pit that pops out easily when the peach is ripe. They're great for canning and freezing because they're just so easy to work with. Of course, they're even better eaten fresh, with juice dripping down to your elbow.
What's a Cling Stone Peach?
We get several loads of Georgia peaches starting in May and running through mid July. This first load or two are cling stone fruit, because that's the type that ripen first. Cling peaches have a pit that 'clings' and doesn't pop out easily. When you eat a cling stone peach you have to creatively navigate your nibbler around the seed. So if you don't think that sounds fun then you'll want to wait until next month for the free stone peaches.
How are These Peaches Grown?
It's pretty unheard of to grow true organic peaches here in the southeast corner of the USA, so we looked hard to find the closest thing to organic possible. We absolutely love the orchard we found! They are willing to talk freely about their growing practices, and we've found them to be particularly careful to grow as naturally as possible. This growing method is commonly called Integrated Pest Management. You can read more about it by clicking here.
Our family is especially set on organic peaches, or at least something close, so we hope this helps you out as much as it helped us to speak with the wonderful people at this orchard.
What's the Difference Between Number 2 & Number 1 Peaches
Number 2 peaches are either small or else imperfect, whereas the number 1's are more uniform in size and unblemished. A few different examples of the imperfections you may find in your box of number 2 peaches: peaches with strange or elongated shapes, a groove where the fruit grew next to a twig, discoloration or a rough patch on the skin, a dent where the peach was hit by hail, or sometimes a small cut. And occasionally we can't tell why a peach was considered a number 2, because to us, they look just fine.
How to Store and Ripen Peaches
Our neighbor has an easy, reliable way to store peaches that keeps her peaches fresh considerably longer than refrigeration alone. Last summer, I think she and her husband were still eating fresh peaches 4 weeks after she picked up her box from us! All you need to do it yourself is some paper towels and a couple plastic grocery bags. Place a few paper towels in the bottom of one of the grocery bags, then set a layer of unripe peaches into the bag. Add another layer of paper towels and another layer of peaches on top of the first, then top it off with one more layer of paper towels. Now slip another bag over the first to loosely cover the opening and you're done. Just set the bag gently into the fridge. You'll want to peek into the bag every few days to make sure all your fruit is still sound. Store the unripened peaches in the refrigerator until a couple days before you'd like to eat them. They'll keep longer when refrigerated unripe. To ripen, just place firm peaches on the counter for a day or two.
Peach Measurements
3-4 medium or 2-3 large peaches = about 1 lb
1 lb peaches = 3-4 cups sliced peaches, loosely packed
1 lb peaches = 2 cups peach puree
1/2 bushel = 25 lbs
How to Peel Peaches Easily
- Prepare a cold water bath, either in a sink or large bowl.
- Place the peaches to be peeled in a colander, or basket, or drop them directly into a deep pot of boiling water for almost one minute. Make sure that each peach is completely submerged and that they are free enough for water to flow all around them.
- After one minute in the boiling water, immediately plunge the peaches into the cold water bath. You may need to change the water or add ice to keep the water cold.
- The skin should come off the peach very easily now, just like peeling tomatoes.
Freezing Your Peaches...
For smoothies:
We like to cut our peaches into quarters and freeze them on cookie sheets. Once they're frozen, we put them into gallon freezer bags. This way the peaches won't freeze together as one big block. Since we make smoothies in our powerful VitaMix, we don't bother to peel the peaches. Check out our favorite peach smoothie recipe, Orange Peach Sherbet Smoothie.
To freeze sliced or cubed peaches:
Put whole peaches in hot water until the skin slips off. Then put the skinned ones into a big bowl of water you've prepare with ascorbic acid (¼ to ½ teaspoon ascorbic acid per 2 cups of water) or lemon juice. Cut into slices or chunks and place into quart bags. We've found that one quart bag stuffed full makes a perfect size pie. We don't add sugar to freeze them, and it works just fine.
In a hurry to get them frozen?
We've tried freezing peaches whole, and although it takes up more space, they actually turned out pretty well. Run them under hot water and the peel slips off. After they thaw for a little while, you can slice them up. The peaches don't brown at all because they're still in their skins. A handy time saver!
However you prepare your peaches for freezing, place your freezer bags or containers as quickly as possible into the coldest part of your freezer, allowing room around the containers to promote fast freezing. Containers can be packed more economically space-wise after one day of freezing. Be sure to date your packages.
How to Plant a Peach Pit
- After you have eaten a few peaches, clean the pits and store them in the refrigerator until September or October.
- Plant the pits about five inches beneath the soil surface. It's best to plant a few in case some don't sprout.
- Mark the location.
- Your tree will begin to grow in the spring!
- Keep the tree watered and fertilized and you'll have fruit in 2-3 years!
