PEACH NEWS

PEACH NEWS 

The last week in April 2020 we and other farmers across the east coast received below freezing temperatures. Why do we care? This timing occurred when most every fruit we have on the farm was in bloom. Strawberries, Sour cherries, Peaches and Apples, all were subjected to this frost. First comes the flower, then the pollination, then the fruit, but if the flower freezes there is no fruit. 

Every year we say a little prayer during this bloom period as it occurs before our last freeze date of May 14th, but this year we were especially worried because the mild winter that we had meant that the trees never fully went dormant. Their internal alarm was off and this makes the trees themselves more susceptible to frost and also to blooming earlier. The crop most affected by this frost for us, are the peaches. Many farmers received the worst case scenario in total crop loss, we are lucky. We have some peaches, possibly enough fruit to consider canning for winter sales in the market. 

As a result, we have less peaches for sale in the market now. The early peach varieties were near a total loss and we will have to see what kind of availability we can provide as the mid and late season varieties mature. 

How does this affect you? This may mean we are not able to discount larger quantities of our fruit this year. Also, one of the most visual ‘side effects’ of this frost damage is split pit. Usually this occurs when we receive deluges of rain that cause the fruit to swell quickly and splits the pit open. The frost seems to have done what rain usually does and all of the peaches are presenting with this split pit. The fruit surrounding the pit is quite delicious but it can be startling to find mold, bugs, or alternatively, nothing at all, if you split the peach open as you eat it. One of the ways you can get around this if you have picky eaters in your house. Use a spoon to scoop out the pits in these early peaches that are clingstone. Our later peaches are freestone, meaning they come off the pit readily. 

Having been raised on a farm and seeing that food is not free from nature, but rather comes from nature; split pit has never bothered me. I see how for both adults and kids this is a great way to remember where real food comes from and to normalize nature.  I think this normalization of eating a peach at its peak sweetness and prime from a farmer is something that grocery stores can't provide because of most fruits' shelf life. Peaches ask us to eat them as they are, almost immediately, ephemerally, the highlight fruit of summer.  We are asking you to embrace nature because life tastes sweeter when we all do ;) with the full knowledge that if you are not satisfied we will find a solution that works for you. 

Thank you! from the Manoff Crew, 

written by Chelsea