Rent Mother Nature’s peach growers told us that this year’s crop is looking great -Georgia’s sunny weather helps the ripening process along in fine style! As we repeat in so many reports, there is a good reason for tree-ripened produce to be prized. The longer a peach remains on the tree the more acid turns to sugar, making it a sweet peach! A peach will ripen faster on a tree in one hour than it will in 60 days in cold storage. Now that is interesting!
Our peaches are picked when they are firm and put right into a hydro-cooling bath. Washing accomplishes two things: First, it removes field dirt and cleans the peach fuzz. At the same time, the cold water “sets” the peach, arresting its tendency to continue ripening as if it were still on the tree. After the refreshing bath, the fruit is put on a conveyor belt where eagle-eyed inspectors study each one for firmness and color–discarding any imperfect specimens. Finally, the cream of the crop is run through a “de-fuzzer” to be shaved of excessive peach fuzz, and only then is it packed and delivered to your door within two days.
Peach trees need a great deal of watering to develop good-sized, juicy fruit, and the growers can usually count on Mother Nature to supply the needed rain. The trees in the grove look healthy, and the peaches are in excellent shape. Since the vigilant growers keep the ground around the tree free of fallen fruit that can attract pests, the orchard looks like a well-tended garden.