This year's crop is shaping up to be a good one. (Nancy Lehrer photo/http://www.flickr.com/people/rovernl/)

By DAVID BORAKS
DavidsonNews.net

Local peaches are beginning to make their appearance at farmer’s markets, roadside stands and groceries. Experts say this year’s crop in the Carolinas could be the best in years thanks to a favorable winter and spring.

“We’ve got the best crop of peaches this year that we’ve ever had. We’ve got peaches on oak trees, I believe,” joked Brent Barbee of Barbee Farms, in Concord.

South Carolina peaches are already in full season. Some North Carolina farms already are picking, while others – in the mountains or northern part of the state – will be ready next week or after. Barbee Farms has had peaches at the Davidson Farmer’s Market in recent weeks, and we should be seeing peaches from other vendors in the coming weeks.

Mr. Barbee said the weather this winter and spring have been just right for producing a good peach harvest.

“We actually had a winter like we were supposed to have. It stayed cold the whole winter long. And then when it was supposed be warm, for peaches to bloom, it stayed warm.”

This year’s peaches aren’t just plentiful, they’re tasty, too, Mr. Barbee said. They’re small, but “extremely sweet,” thanks to dry weather recently. “They’re not real big. But (people) don’t need to be scared of ’em just because they’re small. It’ more flavor packed into each peach,” he said.

Other farmers are echoing Mr. Barbee’s peach forecast.

“It looks like a great crop this year,” said Steve Smith, who runs Buttermilk Creek Farm in Alamance County, north of Burlington.

Last year, a spring frost destroyed Buttermilk’s crop and the farm got no peaches. This year, they had so many that they had to thin the trees by about half, Mr. Smith said. “There are so many on the ground there it looks like mulch under the trees,” he said.

Experts in South Carolina, which is the nation’s No. 2 peach producer behind California, also said it’s looking like the best harvest in years, according to WFAE-FM’s Scott Graf, who reported on the crop June 30. (Listen to his report via the link below.)

Some farmers have been concerned that 100-degree weather could dampen the harvest, but many are optimistic. More hot weather could affect when the harvest actually begins at northern N.C. or mountain-top orchards.

At Buttermilk Creek Farm, Mr. Smith says, “We hope to start next week. But with this heat, we don’t know when we’ll be picking. He said they typically wait until peaches “start falling off the tree.” Then they invite visitors to pick their own from their modest 1 1/4 acres of trees. And when they do, and they get a taste of the ripe sweet fruit, “They start talking about grandma’s peaches.”

RELATED LINKS

Barbee Farms, Concord

Buttermilk Creek Farm, Burlington

June 30, WFAE.org, “SC Peach Growers Hoping Dry Weather Won’t Sour Sweet Harvest.”

What’s the difference between freestone and clingstone peaches and what are their varieties? Find out on the South Carolina Peach Council website, scpeach.com

History of South Carolina’s peach industry, which is No. 2 in the U.S., on the S.C. Department of Agriculture website.

Did you know that peach cultivation began in China as early as 2000 B.C.E. More facts about the history of peaches on Iowa State’s Agricultural Marketing Resource Center website.

Want to cook with peaches? Here’s Paula Deen’s Peach Cobbler recipe, on FoodNetwork.com.