While the fresh peach season is slowly dwindling there are still peaches available at most growers because of their ability to stretch the season with large coolers and plenty of moisture that will help retain the moisture content in them.
Eventually, though, they will lose that precious moisture and develop a mealy texture which makes them less desirable. Fresh off the vine is best to sink your teeth into and there is no other sensation that takes the place of that peach tang with it’s juices running down your chin and the desire to get another one to gulp down.
Most growers have a unique process of taking fresh picked peaches that have been collected by pickers, in bags, and carefully rolled into large ten bushel bins. Large flatbed trailers are loaded and hauled to the processing area where they are unloaded with forklifts and placed on a vertical cooling rack that allows cool water to flow through the fruit bins to cool down the warm fruit and prepare them for temporary storage in a cooler at temperatures in the mid thirties.
Time is of the essence to get these fruits processed by washing, grading for size, and culling for irregularities and damaged fruit and boxed for shipping while the fruit is still in prime condition.
Local stores as well as dealers as far away as Chicago and Ohio could buy peaches in bin boxes or crates, to re-sell to the public, from these growers and that’s what I did in the August through September months for Everett’s Grocery Store.
It was a job that was really enjoyable and I learned a lot about the process and the different peaches that were grown as well as the friendships with the different growers that I developed. I still make the trip each year to pick up some of my favorites and to renew old friendships.
I take them Olympia chocolates or The Nut Shoppe nuts and candies and they oblige me with peaches or apples — I love it.
Our local Amish community are big buyers at these growers with “haulers” that will take orders from their surrounding area and a date set for pick-up and then sell for a modest fee for pick-up and delivery.
Red Haven peaches are still the standard bearer, even with the introduction of many new varieties, because of their unique characteristic of not turning brown after cutting their flesh which makes them ideal for canning and freezing.
A pectin can have the same effect on fresh cut peaches by helping to retain the natural color of the fruit’s flesh. A fairly new introduction to the market was Paul Friday’s “Flaming Fury” — a genetically crossed cultivar that had a lot of the same characteristics as Red Haven by not turning brown when exposed to air. It had a somewhat redder flesh and the taste and quality were superior to some of it’s rivals.
When Red Haven are no longer available try some of the other or later varieties such as Redskin, Red Star, Coral Star, or Star Fire. If you have never tried a white flesh peach, try one of the newly developed “whites” like Blushing Star- they are wonderful.
Baby Gold peaches, while being a cling variety, are grown sparingly but can still be found and are a favorite for canning because slices retain their shape and color in a canning jar and make an excellent choice for judging in competition. Store bought canned tins are usually of this genre’.
Harmony and Loring were eye catchers some years ago with Harmony’s beautiful color and size and Loring’s huge size and yellow skin.
They are mostly gone now though because their size made them easily bruised and less desirable for growers as well as buyers.
Life
Peaches a mainstay in local rural culture
- Life
-
-
Prosecutor offering Law Career Exploring Program
Elkhart County Prosecuting Attorney Curtis T. Hill Jr. has announced the launch of a Law Career Exploring Program for local high school students.
-
In the end, I'll take the peace of love and family
I should warn you: My brain is especially dense with thought these days. Elbow-deep in philosophical essays — the kind that demand three or four reads — I’m taking an ethics class required of us would-be health professionals.
-
Finding the perfect filler for your garden
Rose mallow is a great garden filler. It’s origins are the genus malvaceae (mallow family) and if you are like I am, the mallow family gets rather confusing.
-
The ‘evolution’ of homeschooling
“Benefit number 9,267 of homeschooling.” That’s one of my favorite lines. I use it — any four-digit number is fine — when I hear something about public schooling I find objectionable, sad, mildly amusing, downright ridiculous or about which I’m simply glad to not have to bother.
-
COLUMN: It’s a new year for all you gardeners
Believe it or not it’s countdown time until spring— maybe I’m stretching it a bit but planting time at all the greenhouses is about to begin. Cuttings will be arriving in just over a month and that means activity.
-
Electoral homefront leaves mom the clear winner
It was the morning after the Iowa caucus. An eager nation had waited into the night, breathless, for an unnamed citizen in a pickup truck to arrive with the last of the votes.
-
When babies bite while nursing and other thoughts
It’s too soon for toilet training — in my house, that is. My toddling, teething baby starts his second year next month (meaning he turns 1).
-
Longtime church secretary retires
GOSHEN — For 15 years visitors to the office of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Goshen were greeted warmly with a big smile by former church secretary Veronica Gouker. And visitors or callers would soon find out what a wealth of information was stored within Gouker as she swiftly and efficiently handled requests.
-
Grapes are a passion in southwest Michigan
Lake Michigan has an impact on the rolling hills of southwest Michigan for grape growers. All the way from the Indiana/Michigan state line, north to the Kalamazoo River, and west to the city of Kalamazoo, where the bulk of the growing is done, moist lake breezes prevent the extremes of heat and cold in the spring and summer months.
-
What keeps you going during the lull of winter?
I’m never quite sure about January. First, there’s the cold, chilling to the bone. When I’m out walking the dog, a sharp western wind numbs my brain as well as my fingers.
Then there’s the realization that winter is still here for a couple of months. After the magic of the holidays, each day turns into every day. - More Life Headlines
-
Prosecutor offering Law Career Exploring Program
Whitney Houston Funeral to Be Invitation Only
New Details in Search for Missing Utah Mom
Raw Video: Protesters, Security Clash in Bahrain
Obama: Good US-China Ties Help the Whole World
School Pays Students to Attend Class
Raw Video: Biden Greets Chinese VP for Visit
Raw Video: Heavy Shelling in Homs, Syria
Raw Video: 5 People Injured in Bangkok Blasts
Raw Video: Kim Jong Il Statue Unveiled
Trial Opens for Ala. Man in Bride's Diving Death
Baltimore's 'Crime Stopper' Is a Basketball Star
Raw Video: Hearse Arrives at N.J. Funeral Home
Authorities: Houston Found Underwater in Tub
Arm Wrestler Not Guilty Plea in Wife's Death
Raw Video: Houston Body Flown From L.A. to N.J.
First Person: Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show
Obama's New Budget: The Winners and Losers
Gregoire: Marriage Equality Is Right for Wash.
Bacteria Keep Swimmers Off Some Fla. Beaches
Sandusky Can See Grandkids, Have Local Jury
