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2011 peach season in GA is suffering from severe drought; so bad that Lane stopped harvesting for several days recently. The peaches that do come to market are noticeably firmer with less juice and "subdued" taste.

There has been some rain in the last few days, but of the hit-and-miss variety. I suspect this will not be remembered as a great season for GA peaches.

Hi- I suspect that most of the large scale Georgia peach growers have trickle irrigation in their fields, so that should not be much of a problem. I know my sister in Michigan irrigates her peach trees. BTW- There is going to be TONS of peaches in SW Michigan this summer. They should start arriving at the farmer's markets around here the middle of July. I encourage every one to hit the farmer's markets to get some.

Michigan cherries should be ready in a week, and they had Michigan raspberries at the Evanston market last Saturday. Hope this helps, Nancy

It was not a supposition on my part...I live in GA peach country. Lane and Pearson, the two largest commercial peach growers, have had to suspend picking a few times during the beginning of the season due to poor fruit quality and delayed ripening. The most telling instance for me was finding rock-hard peaches from CA in local stores. Drought is having a major impact.

I don't know where they got them, but I've got some wonderful Georgia peaches in my fridge right now. Bought at Meijer of all places. They're small, but juicy and delicious. These and some May Lady peaches from South Carolina I bought a couple of weeks ago at Woodman's are the best I've had in years. I don't usually buy supermarket peaches, but these smelled so good I succumbed to temptation. Glad I did.

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LAZ
Dining Chicago
Index to LTHForum Recipes, 2004-2008

Hi, just wanted to post an update for folks that were planning to visit our peach truck this summer at our Gurnee location. The Menards store in Gurnee is under construction and we had to find a last-minute alternate location to park at. So for our Saturday, July 9, 2011 visit we will now be parking at the Dairy Queen at 4611 Old Grand Ave (just off Hwy 132) from 1:30 to 3:00 pm.

Our website has all the up-to-date info, including a map to the Gurnee location if needed. http://www.tree-ripe.com


PS: sorry to necro a thread but wasn't sure if posting commercial threads was okay here or not.


Trevor
Tree-Ripe Citrus Co.

Hey Trevor,

The peaches this year may be a litle smaller than last year's crop, but they are excellent! I picked up a case last weekend and they are already nearly gone.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

thinking about getting some peaches tomorrow, anything I should know?

(cash only? get there early because they sell out?)

thanks,

Dudefella--

They seem to be okay with checks and cash, but not credit cards. I did not find a reference on their website: http://www.tree-ripe.com/ but I thought their policy was on it, somewhere.

As to selling out, not a problem if you hit their first or second stop. Don't know about the last stop of the day.

The batch we got last week was superb. Enjoy! Enjoy!

i do believe this isn't quite off 131... closer to milwaukee/rt 21 and oplaine rd.

@dudefella

As a transient merchant, we'd prefer payment by check, but will accept cash as well. We're not set up for credit cards yet, but maybe next season with an iPad!

Meant to type Hwy 132, corrected my post. The 'Locations' page of our website has a google map when you drill down to the Gurnee visit.

We should have more than enough fruit on our trucks for our Illinois visits. We have had to run extra fruit to several locations this season due to a much larger turnout than expected, but we always try to not run out on our customers, as many drive a long ways to get their fruit!

@stevez. they are a bit smaller because of the hot & dry weather down there early on, but that resulted in a peach with a higher sugar content, making them especially sweet this season. But in the last week or so, the sizes have been getting larger and we're seeing many more 2-3/4" peaches and larger and less 2-1/2" peaches. However, while large peaches look appealing, they aren't that great for canning as a really large peach will often not fit through the mouth of the glass jar, so our canning customers generally like those 2-1/2" peaches.

Trevor
Tree-Ripe Citrus Co.
www.tree-ripe.com

And those canner types prefer cling free, where the stone easily seperates from the fruit.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Oh, definitely. We only bring freestone peaches up from Georgia, which is why we generally start selling in late June or early July. A bit later than the start of the cling season, but our canning customers who are buying bulk-pack boxes of peaches know it is worth the wait.

Trevor
Tree-Ripe Citrus Co.
http://www.tree-ripe.com

Believe me I wasn't complaining, just comparing to last year. The peaches are excellent and I will be buying more in the coming weeks.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

I have no doubt that Georgia produces plenty of good peaches, and I bet some of the peaches from this truck taste pretty good. Still, I cannot imagine why someone would want to eat a peach trucked in from Georgia, especially when it is mostly a hassle to get to these peaches, when so many great peaches are just a market away.

I had my first Michigan peach today, a white, early peach from Walt Skibbe. It took a napkin under chin to prevent total shirt ruin from all the juices. Granted, these white peaches won't have quite the sun-kissed flavor of the soon to arrive Red Havens, but it had that succor that can only come from optimum tree harvest. I believe when you are paying for a market peach, and granted you are paying, a lot of what you pay is from the skill these farmers have in knowing when to take the fruit off the branch.

Walt Skibbe himself is at the Oak Park Farmer's Market, but his peaches can be found at other markets including South Bend and Deerfield. You may find you don't need to schlep for a good peach.

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Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.

The Local Beet's very big list of 2013 Farmer's Markets

Rob,

Please post when you start to see Red Havens. I'd like to do the comparison between Michigan and Georgia peaches again to see if my opinion might have changed.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Water is always an issue when growing fruit, especially peaches.

The Georgia peach crop has been above average this year.

Here's to hoping that many of you have had the chance to enjoy some of our peaches, via the good folks at Tree Ripe.

Unfortunately, the 2011 peach crop will be finished later this week...get them while you still can!

Al Pearson
Fifth Generation Peach Farmer
Pearson Farm
Georgia Peaches

I bought several cases from Tree-Ripe late in June. The peaches were a little small but incredibly juicy and delicious. Last week I bought more and gifted a case to a friend to whom I had bragged about the delicious Georgia peaches from the Tree-Ripe truck. Well, I have certainly regretted the expense and am embarrassed by my gift. While the peaches are larger, they are dry almost to the point of pithy. They are bland and hardly have any flavor. Having been a customer of Tree-Ripe for very many years, I am seriously disappointed. They should check their product and either not distribute when it is sub par or they should discount their premium price.

In case you need my prompting, the markets now has Red Havens, and if you don't like those, the local nectarines I've tried so far this year are even better than the peaches.

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Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.

The Local Beet's very big list of 2013 Farmer's Markets

I'm in the Pacific Northwest right now, but I'll be sure to give those Red Havens a try when I get back. I can understand what you mean about the nectarines. The locally grown one I tried at the Pike Place Market was outstanding. The farmer said it was an unusually good year for them.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Resurrecting this thread because the Georgia peach truck is making the rounds right now. I'm thinking of heading up to Milwaukee (where they'll be stopping tomorrow) to pick up a case or two.

http://www.tree-ripe.com/calendar.html

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Steve-

Thanks for resurrecting this. Since Michigan peaches will be scarce, I will try to seek out this peach truck. Can't do it this weekend unfortunately.

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-Mary

If you can wait, they'll be coming to points much closer to Chicago soon. Check the calendar I linked to for the locations and dates.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

I've bookmarked it. If you get peaches this weekend, please let us know how they are. I love good summer peaches!

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-Mary

How long have (will) these peaches been (be) sitting on the truck?

Hard to say, but they generally benefit from a day or so of ripening once you bring them home. If this year's batch is as good as in years past, nothing grown around here even comes close to matching the sweetness and juicyness of these peaches.

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Hi,

Plus most of the 'local' peaches bit the dust due to early springs followed by frost at a key time. Our immediate region is not kind to peaches. Where they are grown commercially in Michigan and southern Illinois, those crops were heavily damaged.

This applies to apples, too.

Your best bet for peaches may be those from Georgia. Not too much readily available and high demand, these will likely be pricey this year.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Drove up to north Milwaukee this AM and stood in a downpour with about 150 other drowned rats to get 2 boxed, (approx 1/2 bu. ea). Cost was $35 per box. Peaches look and smell good but need about 2-4 days ripening before peak eating, (looks like next Saturday will be canning peach preserves, peach chutney and quartered peaches).

The website says they will be back on 7-5-12 but the truck driver said 7-7-12.

$1.40lb is a decent price. When they ripen I will report back to the group.

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You can't prepare for a disaster when you are in the midst of it.


A sensible man watches for problems ahead and prepares to meet them. The simpleton never looks, and suffers the consequences.
Proverbs 27:12

Hi- I love peach jam, but I can't see taking $1.40 a pound peaches and making jam out of them. For just eating out of hand, I have no problem paying that much, but not for peach jam. I have made lots of peach jam in my life time, but I am sure that Iam not doing it this summer, because there aren't enough peaches to go around. Peaches should be really early this summer. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't some early variates around in a week or two for lots of money.

BTW- Somebody was mentioning red haven peaches. Red Haven peaches are the standard around which all other Michigan peaches are compared. Red Havens are really good, but my sister has a few variates that she has bred herself, that are just as good as Red Haven. They grow different peach variates in Georgia than they do here. Michigan requires peaches with more cooling days than Georgia can supply. It does not get cold enough in Georgia to grow Red Haven. Most of the peaches you buy at the farmer's market here, are ready to eat in two days or less.

Homegrown peaches here are going to go for at least $30 a half bushel this year, and one Michigan farmer told me today that he expects them to get up to $40 a half bushel. Hope this helps, Nancy

Nancy,

I heard most of Michigan's stone fruit crop was wiped out. I am guessing this is not a problem for your sister.

I agree with you that perfect peaches don't belong in a jam or chutney. I happily buy bruised peaches cheap, then cut away the bad bits.

The best peaches are either eaten out of hand or are canned as slices or halves.

Regards,

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Cathy2

"You'll be remembered long after you're dead if you make good gravy, mashed potatoes and biscuits." -- Nathalie Dupree
Facebook, Twitter, Greater Midwest Foodways, Road Food 2012: Podcast

Hi Cathy2- Yes there are going to be some Michigan peaches. The peach crop is definitely going to be larger than the cherry and apple crop, but it is still going to be much smaller than usual. The people in South Haven and other areas north of my sister have a larger crop than Berrien county does. You're still talking about 50% or less though in those areas. My sister says that she heard that one farmer in Fennville, which is North of her, has close to a full crop. He is going to be making lots of money this summer, assuming he has lots of peach trees. Even one of the Michigan farmers that comes to the Evanston market, told me a month ago that he had 1% of a crop, and he told me yesterday that he has 5%-10% of a peach crop now. Peaches are definitely going to be more expensive this summer though, and I suspect the Amish ladies in Indiana will not be canning peaches this summer. We sell the majority of our #2 and ripe peaches to the Amish women, because they are about the only people that can anymore except for you, Cathy2.

There is actually going to be a juice grape crop too this fall. At first the growers thought that their crop got totally wiped out, but then a few weeks later some new buds started showing up. It has gone from 0% to maybe 20% now, which means that they are still going to be expensive. Hope this helps, Nancy