Georgia Peaches
Georgia’s most recognizable fruit traveled all over the world before reaching the Peach State. First cultivated in ancient China, peaches went to Greece with Alexander the Great’s soldiers around 322 BC. A peach in Rome around 100 AD cost the equivalent of more than four dollars; in Victorian England about five. Spanish explorers traveling through Mexico and Florida brought the first peaches to North America, where they spread through missionary and Indians populations. The original settlers to the colony planted peaches in the Trustees Garden in Savannah in the 1700s. Highly perishable, the fruit was grown mostly for home use; its often hard and bitter fruit was fed to hogs or made into brandy.
In the 1850s growers like Robert Nelson and R.J. Moses, experimenting in Middle Georgia nurseries, developed better tasting peaches that they shipped on a limited basis on the railroads. In 1872, Samuel Rumph of Marshallville cultivated the Elberta, a peach unrivaled in taste, color and size, that when shipped by rail in newly invented refrigerated boxes sold extremely well in Northern markets. The region, notably Peach County, continues to produce most of the state’s peaches.
Georgia peaches, which number about 2.5 million trees on about 20,000 acres, can produce 160 million pounds of fruit in a good year.
A refreshing taste for summer, peaches have a perfect blend of flavor and nutrition. They can be enjoyed as appetizers, desserts and everything in between. And they contain important nutrients like fiber, riboflavin and beta-carotene, which have been linked to a reduced cancer risk. Peaches are one of the lowest calorie fruits.
Georgia produces more than 40 commercial varieties of peaches, available fresh from mid-May to early August. They are divided into two main categories. Clingstone, the earlier variety, have fruit that cling to the stone, or pit. The fruit of the latter one, freestone, readily breaks from the pit.
A Buyers Guide to Peaches
Buyer’s Guide to Peaches
When selecting peaches, smell the fruit. A member of the rose family, peaches should have a pleasant, sweet fragrance.
Look for a creamy gold or yellow under-color. The red or “blush” of a peach indicates variety, not ripeness.
Peaches should be soft to the touch, but not mushy.
Look for a well-defined crease that runs from the stem to the point.
Don’t squeeze peaches. They bruise easily.
Place firm peaches on the counter for a day or two to ripen.
Promptly refrigerate ripe peaches and eat them within a week of purchase.
To peel a peach, dip it into boiling water for 30 second, then cold water. The peel should slide off easily.
To keep sliced peaches from darkening, add lemon juice or ascorbic acid.