Continue reading »]]> Recently I was checking out the table of one of my favorite vendors at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market. I have bought several varieties of heirloom apples from her. But on this day she had a peach variety that I have heard about, but never had the chance to try. She recently planted some Elberta peach trees. This was the first year they were purposing fruit, so the peaches themselves were a bit on the small side.

Elberta peaches are among the most popular in the United States. They have a beautiful color, are freestone, hardy, disease resistant, and the trees grow quickly. So if they are so popular how come I have never seen them before. I think it is where Elbertas are popular elsehwere, in Michigan, Red Haven reigns as the most popular peach variety, shutting out the Elberta.

The Elberta peach has been around since the 1870s! It was developed by Samuel H. Rumph. The peach was named after his wife. It may have been the first peach to be shipped a great distance (from Georgia to New York). Samuel discovered the peach held up well when shipped. This peach is what really made Georgia into a peach state. It also had a hand in establishing the commercial fruit industry in the United States. So you have Samuel to thank for any fruit that you buy that is from outside your region.

My Experience with this Peach (Rating Scale 1-10)
Acidity: 8
Peach Flavor: 8
Sweetness: 5
Juiciness: 8

Overall Feeling: This peach has a wonderful flavor. I also found it to be quite juicy and on the acidic side. These peaches would be great canned or uses in a pie or any other baking application. There is a reason why this peach has been around for well over 100 years.

Where is the best place to buy a good peach? Click here to read my article on shopping for peaches.

Continue reading »]]> Time to review my first Michigan grown peaches of the season. The variety is Harrow Diamond. It was developed at a breeding program in Harrow, Ontario. The same place as the Canadian Harmony and of course the Harrow Beauty. This peach is a semi-clingstone, which means unless the peach is really ripe, some flesh will probably still cling to the pit. This early season peach ripens on average 18 days before the popular Redhaven.

My Experience with this Peach (Rating Scale 1-10)
Acidity: 8
Peach Flavor: 7
Sweetness: 5
Juiciness: 8

Overall Feeling: This peach was definitely on the acidic side. It has a good flavor and is pretty juicy. It left a little juice in the bottom of my bowl. Not the sweetest peach in the world. I needed a bit of sugar to balance it out (also adding honey to peaches is a delicious option).

Where is the best place to buy a good peach? Click here to read my article on shopping for peaches.

Continue reading »]]> When it comes to finding different peach varieties to review, grocery stores usually aren’t the best option. Most stores just the peaches are yellow flesh or white flesh, without giving a specific variety. That is why I was excited this week to find two varieties I haven’t had at Busch’s in Saline, Michigan. The first variety I tried was the Orbit Fire. These are a variety of donut or saucer peach. It is a peach that looks like it has been flatten out. These peach tends to be low in acidic and high on sweetness.

There isn’t alot of info online about Orbit Fire peaches. I do know they the ones I got were grown by a California farmer the grows produce for Melissa’s Produce – a large distributor of produce. Their website indicates that this fruit is a favorite of Chef Ashley James.

My Experience with this Peach (Rating Scale 1-10)
Acidity: 2
Peach Flavor: 5
Sweetness: 9
Juiciness: 7

Overall Feeling: This white fleshed peach was pretty sweet, with not much acidity, making it a good choice for something looking to avoid acidic foods. The flavor was itself was average, still I did enjoy the peach, and if I saw them again, I would buy a couple.

Where is the best place to buy a good peach? Click here to read my article on shopping for peaches.

Continue reading »]]> “This article was authored exclusively for Eat Like No One Else by Pearson Farm, a fifth-generation family farm producing the best Georgia peaches that are shipped directly from our orchard to your front door.”

One of the biggest changes to the peach industry over the last few years resolves around a singular issue: labor. Labor is a large driving force in the cost to manage a peach farm. While many peach farmers do hire many immigrant workers, a local labor force is necessary.

Many farmers work with a government program (H2A Worker Program) to have legal workers. This labor force typically offers a viable option for farmers to stay fiscally minded. A description of the Worker Program from the Department of Labor’s website:

“The work to be performed must be “of a temporary (or seasonal) nature,” meaning employment that is performed at certain seasons of the year, usually in relation to the production and/or harvesting of a crop, or for a limited time period of less than one year when an employer can show that the need for the foreign workers(s) is truly temporary.”

There is also an increasingly difficult task that must be tackled by peach famers: food safety. The most dedicated farmers work diligently to ensure that peaches are safe for the consumer. Farmers are also required to be able to trace peach shipments, in the rare case that something should be found amiss in a batch of peaches produced.

Finally, there are numerous governmental issues that affect how peach farmers do things on their farms. While many are not officially “organic farms”, most try to limit sprays of pesticides and employ an Integrated Pest Management system.

Continue reading »]]> “This article was authored exclusively for Eat Like No One Else by Pearson Farm, a fifth-generation family farm producing the best Georgia peaches that are shipped directly from our orchard to your front door.”

Peach trees are like any other produce: they take time, energy and effort to make a viable crop.

Most people will tell you that peach trees are beautiful when in bloom and their visual draw is as much of an appeal as their juicy product. Peach trees do not require much effort to “look good”, but take quite a bit of care to fill your peach basket with ripe fruit each summer.

While peach trees have been in existence for thousands of years, a number of varieties exist today. Most peach trees can produce fruit by themselves, not requiring another tree for pollination purposes.

The number of branches on a peach tree determines how much fruit it will produce. Trees typically reach three feet in height the first year, assuming they are exposed to plentiful sunlight and clean air. When the weather warms, peaches begin to thrive; however, a frost or freeze during the blooming period can doom a tree.

Peach trees need an adequate water supply, but can’t survive in flood conditions and need good draining soil to grow properly. When all the elements are right, the tree can flourish and grow.

Most peach trees will begin to bear viable fruit in 3 years. However, it must be mentioned that to get to this point requires a great deal of attention. Pruning, access to fertile soil, fertilizer and disease management all play a part in raising healthy trees. When everything goes right, peach trees will produce fruit and appetites will be successfully fulfilled.

What many people don’t realize is that peach trees live a fairly short period of time – an average of 15-20 years.

Continue reading »]]> “This article was authored exclusively for Eat Like No One Else by Pearson Farm, a fifth-generation family farm producing the best Georgia peaches that are shipped directly from our orchard to your front door.”

Many people are aware that there are a variety of peaches available for them to purchase. Some can even tell you that clingstones are good for canning. This variety of peach has a firm texture which makes them ideal for preserving and storing for later consumption.

Clingstones are known for a clear juice, bright color and ability to maintain shape when stored. Their pits are often described as being like wood and have a unique way of clinging to the peach flesh that surrounds them.

These peaches become available during the first part of the harvest season, which typically begins in May each year. Because of their viability in jelly, desserts and other canned applications they are rarely found at your local market.

These soft peaches have a wonderfully sweet taste. These early peaches are clingstones because of their genetic traits, part of their breeding from the early days when the variety was created.

Continue reading »]]> “This article was authored exclusively for Eat Like No One Else by Pearson Farm, a fifth-generation family farm producing the best Georgia peaches that are shipped directly from our orchard to your front door.”

While peaches can be grown in many climates (from North Florida to Michigan), warm weather, plenty of water and good soil are the ideal climate for growing quality peaches. Georgia is the perfect mix of these weather factors, thus allowing the ability to grow more than 30 different varieties of peaches.

As any peach farmer can tell you, producing sweet peaches is a delicate task. All of the stars must align, weather must be to the crop’s liking and a little luck included.

Georgia’s soil is a beneficial resource to have available when trying to grow peaches, but is only half of the battle; weather conditions have the most direct impact on growing healthy peaches. The better tasting and bigger sized peaches require a certain number of “chill” hours – temps under 45 F during the winter months. The number of chill hours required varies according to variety of peach – some need as few as 400 hours and others as many as 800-900.

Once the chill requirement has been met then the fruit tree is getting ready to come into bloom. Peach trees bloom when they are exposed to a certain amount of warmth, generally associated with the onset of summer. When there is a mild spring, and winter turns into summer overnight, peach crops can be devastated.

Additionally, water helps to nurture each peach as it comes to maturity. More water, in the form of rain or crop irrigation, will typically lead to larger peach. Hot temperatures and dry conditions will produce smaller peaches, but the sugars contained in them will be more concentrated, making a sweeter peach.

When temperatures begin to warm in the spring time, peach trees will bloom. The trees get used to the sunshine and water from spring showers. If a cold front moves in and causes a freeze, after the peach trees have started to bloom, it can severely harm the trees and cause the crop to be lost.

Continue reading »]]> “This article was authored exclusively for Eat Like No One Else by Pearson Farm, a fifth-generation family farm producing the best Georgia peaches that are shipped directly from our orchard to your front door.”

Many people are unfamiliar with the fact that a peach is actually a member of the rose family. Their origination is from China about the time they learned to make bronze. Even the Greeks and Romans talk about the variety of peaches that they enjoyed.

While peaches were originally introduced in the United States in what is now California, they are best known as a leading export of Georgia during the summer months. There are more than three dozen different varieties of peaches produced by Georgia peach farmers each year. The peach season in Georgia typically begins during May and runs through the middle of August. During that time 65,000 tons of peaches are produced. That is enough peaches to fill 1,625 fully-loaded tractor trailers!

During the period of reconstruction in the South, beginning in 1865, peaches were a key crop for Southern farmers. This agricultural endeavor helped many farms thrive and further fuel the taste buds of many people outside the direct growing region.

During the mid-nineteenth century, commercialization of Georgia peaches really began. Early peach farming pioneers began shipping peaches in champagne baskets, as opposed to ground charcoal. This served as a preservative and allowed the fresh peaches to be shipped further and further away from Georgia.

As peach farming became a viable entity in Georgia, farmers began to expand their land holdings to grow more peaches. Peach production reached its peak in 1928, when Georgia farmers harvested 360,000 pounds of peaches. These peaches were taken to Savannah, a leading East Coast port town, where they boarded a steam ship headed for New York.

At the turn of the century, before World War I, a new variety of peaches were cultivated. The peaches that were produced on the Rumph Family Farm had a clear seed, yellow flesh and blush on its cheeks. The peaches would become known as the Elberta peach. These peaches could even be shipped without being packed in ice, requiring fewer crates and less overall shipping expense. This variety of peach remained the leading peach export until the middle of the nineteenth century. This peach, despite its previous success, is no longer in commercial production.

As peach production flourished, more and more shipping methods were investigated. People tried to find viable ways to utilize rail transportation to ship peaches across the country without them spoiling or becoming damaged.

The rest is history, as they would say. Peach production has become a major part of the Georgia economy. The peach industry has declined, recently, in the state of Georgia due to the high cost of labor and expense of production. However, the climate and soil in middle Georgia produces a top quality fruit. There is enough cold weather in the winter most years to have a good fruit set and a warm enough spring for fruit development.

Continue reading »]]> I am not a big fan of summer. The hot and humid weather can be unbearable at times. But at least we get a lot of good produce to enjoy during the summer, especially the peaches. Last year I got to review a ton of different varieties of peaches. Peach season here in Michigan begins near the end of July. But thanks to the wonderful people from Pearson Farm in Fort Valley, Georgia, I got to start my peach reviews early this year. I received a shipment of their GaLa peaches last week. No I am not mistaking apples for peaches. While Gala is a popular apple variety, there is also a GaLa peach (notice the capital “L”). This peach variety was a joint release from the USDA-ARS in Bryon, Georgia (Ga) the Louisiana Ag Experiment Station (La).

The GaLa peach is considered a semi-freestone peach. The softness of the peach determines how easy the pit comes out. The first couple peaches I ate, it was a little bit of work to get the stone out and usually a bit of flesh came with it, but as the peaches softened the stone came out without too much trouble and didn’t take any flesh with it. The semi-freestone peaches mark the transition from clingstone to freestone. GaLa peaches are ready somewhere around June 4th. They are ready to harvest on average 5-6 days before the popular Red Haven peach.

The GaLa peach is large in size. The Georgia ones this year ended up being smaller than normal due to less rainfall. This variety also tends to oxidize at a slower rate, so they won’t turn brown that fast after being sliced.

My Experience with this Peach (Rating Scale 1-10)
Acidity: 8
Peach Flavor: 8
Sweetness: 7
Juiciness: 6

Overall Feeling: GaLa peaches have a great peach flavor as well as being quite acidic, but not without some sweetness. I think these peaches would work really well in a peach pie. They are juicy enough, but not overly. Therefore you won’t end up with too much juice in your pie. They are acidic enough to create a balanced dessert.

Care to have some fresh Georgia peaches shipped directly to your home? Visit Pearson Farm’s website to make your order. They also sell peach products like salsa and preserves. If you are a fan of pecans, make sure to include some in your order.

Continue reading »]]> Over a year ago, I reviewed all the flavors of Calypso bottled lemonades. Or at least I thought I had reviewed them all. I discovered their Southern Peach Lemonade while looking for a bathroom at a gas station. Since Calypso reviews have done well on my website in terms of traffic, I definitely had to have this flavor (plus I was thirsty!). I thought my wife would like to try it too as peach is her favorite fruit. The best question about a peach lemonade is does it have that genuine peach taste?

As I opened the bottle, I let my nose have the first experience. It had a fresh peach smell. And then my tongue got to taste a geniue peach flavor. But it wasn’t as good as I was hoping. It wasn’t bad, it just didn’t really knock my socks off. The peach flavor while natural tasting, still needs a bit more of a punch. I think with some fine tuning this drink could get a higher rating.

Where to Buy
Click here to read my post about where you can find Calypso products.

Click here to check out my other Calypso lemonade reviews, including my favorite flavor, Triple Melon!