The Mysterious Nectarine

The nectarine is basically a fuzzless peach. Nectarine seeds can actually grow into trees that bear either nectarines or peaches. Weird, huh?! It is not possible to tell which fruit will grow from a nectarine seed. Due to this characteristic, nectarine branches are often grafted onto peach trees. It is the only guarantee that the tree will produce nectarines.

Over 95 percent of the nectarines harvested each year in the United States come from California.

One medium nectarine contains approximately 67 calories, and is a sufficient source of vitamins A and C.

Nice and Ripe

Paying close attention to the color of a nectarine will help you to pick the best ones in the orchard. A common mistake that people make is, judging ripeness by the amount of red coloring. There are many varieties of nectarines, many of which have different red coloring. Instead of looking at the red, look at the background color. If the background color is yellow rather than green, you have a good nectarine.

Picking Tips

When you purchase nectarines in your local store, you pick out the ones that are soft and ready to eat. However, when you pick nectarines from the tree they will still be firm. This way they will not bruise easily.

Once ripened, a nectarine is softer than most fruit, so remember to pick a nectarine gently. Using your fingertips rather than the length of your fingers will increase the chances of bruised friut. Place the nectarines gently into your baskets.

Super deep buckets do not make a good picking basket. It isn't wise to use really deep buckets, because too much pressure will be applied to the nectarines on the bottom, causing them to bruise.