Peaches ripe for the picking after cool spring rains

(Chambersburg) — Local peach growers are offering plenty of the fuzzy, juicy fruit this year.

“The last couple of weeks we’ve had the heat that makes them sweet,” said Dwight Mickey of Shatzer’s Orchard in Hamilton Township. “The peaches we pick now are good and flavorful and coming off the stone like they should.”

Weather conditions have conspired to ripen several varieties at the same time, so growers are harvesting larger volumes at one time, according to Lee Showalter of Rice Fruit Co. in Adams County.

“The main bulk of season is in August,” said Amy Andrews of Andrews Farm Market, St. Thomas. “That’s when you want to buy peaches for canning.”

She’s already had people from as far away as Pittsburgh pickup bushels of peaches for canning and freezing. They might buy 20 bushels for distribution to friends, family or church members.

“That way everybody gets supplied with the best peaches,” Andrews said.

“There are a lot more varieties than there used to be,” said Mark Toigo of Toigo Orchards, Shippensburg. “The demand for local has really driven growers to put in more varieties for a longer season.”

The season, currently running about a week ahead of the norm, is expected to last into the first or second week of September.

The varieties mature at different rates, but they also have different flavors, Toigo said.

“There are a lot of different flavors in the peach market,” Toigo said. “We grow about 27 different varieties. Every week we have two or three varieties come in. It’s amazing, and it’s fun.”

Franklin County is the second largest producer of peaches in Pennsylvania, and much of the local crop goes to the fresh market. Neighboring Adams County, which grows half the peaches in the state, produces much more for processing.

The season is shaping up to be okay. Frost, stink bugs and hail have been no-shows so far. Early rain presented problems.

“We started out with rain in June, and it was very hard on early peaches,” Mickey said. “They got soft and kind of bland in flavor because they had so much juice. We didn’t have the heat to make them sweet.”

Growers started picking Red Havens, the harbinger of fresh peach season, more than two weeks ago. They make a good eating peach because the pit typically tears easily from the flesh.

“Red Haven tended to cling longer, and I do mean cling,” Mickey said.

The good growing wether however brought out more peaches. Young trees, planted as recently as two years ago, are bearing plenty of peaches, Andrews said.

“For next 10 days until I get main peach crop off I really don’t want to see any rain. If a peach gets too much rain it may split the skin.”

Mickey drip-irrigates his orchard west of Chambersburg. Other growers would like to see a little rain.

Brown marmorated stink bugs have not ventured in to the orchards yet this season. Their sucking mouth parts can damage delicate peaches like a hail storm.

As of July 30, the numbers of stink bugs collected in traps and seen in weekly searches are at the lowest levels since 2010, the first year Penn State started monitoring for the pest, according to Greg Krawczyk, Penn State Extension tree fruit entomologist. Growers however should be prepared. They may have to control the bug just before harvest.

“Their time is coming when we get to September,” Mickey said. “I can’t say stink bugs have caused me any damage at all, but they can come in overnight, just like that. I can’t spray close to harvest, so that opens the door of opportunity for the bugs.”

Jim Hook can be reached at 717-262-4759.

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This article comes to us through a partnership between Public Opinion Online and WITF.