For some reason I’ve long since forgotten, I went several years without eating peaches. Maybe I’d had some tough ones from a conventional grocery store. What I do remember is how the hiatus ended. Some friends of ours picked peaches at a local orchard and brought them by the box-full into their kitchen.
“Just try one,” my friends’ mom urged. I did, and I’ve never had a hiatus since. I couldn’t believe I’d lived without that melt-in-your-mouth texture and sweet, tangy taste for so long. Now I slice them up and eat them fresh, toss them with basil and cucumbers in salads and bake them into fruit crisps with crumb topping.
Peaches are not just delicious. Like all the sweets nature provides, peaches bring many health benefits to the table. While they are low in calories, they are high in fiber—just one medium-sized peach meets 8% of your daily fiber needs. You can count on peaches for Vitamin C and also for Vitamin A, which boosts your immune system and supports healthy vision.
If you are heading to the Pick-Your-Own area for these delicious and healthy treats, there are a few ways to make sure you are selecting ripe peaches and caring for them right away.
Peaches are a very delicate fruit, so bring a shallow basket or box rather than a deep bucket. Otherwise, you’ll have a lot of crushed or bruised peaches at the bottom of the bucket. Choose peaches that are still firm so they won’t get damaged while you pick more fruit and transport them home. Unlike fruits like cherries and strawberries that do not continue to ripen after they are picked, firm peaches do continue to ripen
and will soften within a few days. Choose peaches that have a yellow—not green!—background color. Don’t be dazzled by a peach with lots of red in the foreground… if the background is green, it will take a long time to ripen, no matter how much red there is. Pick peaches gently and settle them into the picking basket gently. Eat them whole or sliced, try some of our favorite recipes from the Weaver’s blog:
Grilled Peaches, Nectarines & Plums (scroll to the bottom… it is the last recipe out of a bunch of amazing recipes!)
Strawberry Peach Carrot Smoothie
* * *
Article written by Rebecca Talbot and coordinated by VanDuzer Design & Marketing for Weaver’s Orchard and may also be syndicated on Fig: West Chester and Rachel’s Farm Table.