All About Peaches!

 

All About Peaches!

Written by Jennifer Korneski, Somerset County 4-H & Healthy Living Coordinator

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Summer brings an abundance of fresh produce and we are lucky to live in the Garden State at the heart of fresh fruits and vegetables which farmers produce for consumers nationally and around the world. New Jersey is one of the top ten producers of blueberries, cranberries, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, cucumbers, apples, spinach, squash, and asparagus. Peaches also make the list, ranking New Jersey as the 4th largest peach producer in the United States.

Peach production in New Jersey dates back to the early 1600’s. New Jersey has ideal day and night temperatures to make peaches a beautiful shade of red and yellow. New Jersey’s geographical location also makes it ideal for distribution as fresh, hand-picked peaches can be picked, packaged, and shipped to major consumer markets within a few hours.

Peaches are classified as a stone fruit, meaning the hard center pit holds the seed. Other stone fruits include plums, cherries, and apricots. Peaches are grouped on how easily the flesh pulls away from the seed. The two types are clingstone meaning the flesh “clings” to the “stone” of the peach, making it difficult to separate, and freestone, meaning it freely separates from the stone. This type is the best for fresh consumption while clingstone peaches are more suitable for canned processing, baby food, and concentrated fruit juice.

New Jersey peaches come in over 20 varieties. Nectarines, commonly sold with peaches, actually are identical fruits to peaches. The only difference is that nectarines do not have the fuzz on the outer skin. 90% of peach varieties are yellow flesh, 4% are white flesh, and 6% are nectarines. Many peach varieties have been developed at the Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station over the past 105 years and they continue to develop new varieties today.

Peaches are in season late June through early September. There is nothing like biting into a ripe, juicy peach on a warm summer day, it’s the perfect healthy snack. A medium size peach has just 35 calories and 2.6 grams of fiber. They are rich in antioxidants such as vitamins A & C, which helps keep our bodies strong and our skin healthy. You’ll see a large variety of options in local supermarkets and farm stands, and many farms even offer the opportunity to pick your own! There are 80 orchards in New Jersey; below are a few local U-pick farms that grow peaches. Check with each individual farm for hours, picking schedule, and special events.

To ripen fresh peaches, put them in a paper bag that has a few holes in it and let rest on counter. Once the fruit is ripe, you can keep them in the refrigerator up to a week. When selecting peaches, look for firm touch and a little give when gently pressed. Aside from enjoying a peach as is, try adding them to salads or even grilling them. Peaches can be made into peach jam, peach salsa, peach ice cream, can be canned, frozen, or dried, and can be used in a wide variety of baked goods such as pies, cobblers, and muffins.

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For a fun peach twist on classic bruschetta, use fresh peaches instead of tomatoes. Try this recipe:

SOURCES

 
Somerset County 4-H