All guides
How to pick peaches
4 min read
One of the few fruits here that genuinely improves after picking, which changes how you should choose them.
137
farms
17
regions
May to September
picked
When you can pick peaches
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Across every region on Pickeria. Darker months are peak somewhere; your own region is narrower, and the table below gives it.
What to look for
- 1
Judge by the background colour, not the red blush. The blush is variety and sun exposure; the yellow or cream underneath is ripeness
- 2
Cup the whole fruit in your palm and twist gently upward. If it needs a tug, leave it
- 3
No green at all near the stem. Green there never ripens properly, however long you leave it on the counter
- 4
Fingers bruise peaches through the fuzz without leaving a mark you can see, so hold them in the palm rather than pinching
- 5
Freestone varieties come away from the pit cleanly and are what you want for canning. Ask which the farm is picking that week
What people get wrong
Every one of these is common enough to be worth naming.
- Judging by the red blush, which is variety and sun exposure rather than ripeness. Read the background colour underneath
- Squeezing with fingertips to test, which bruises through the fuzz without leaving a mark you can see until tomorrow
- Picking anything with green near the stem, which never ripens properly however long it sits
- Refrigerating a hard peach, which is the reliable way to turn it mealy and is exactly what supermarkets do
Varieties worth knowing
Farms post the variety at the gate. This is what the names mean.
Freestone
The flesh comes away from the pit cleanly. What you want for canning, freezing and anything that involves halving a lot of fruit.
Clingstone
The flesh grips the pit. Usually earlier in the season and often better for eating out of hand, if you do not mind the wrestle.
White-fleshed
Lower acid and much sweeter tasting, though not actually higher in sugar. Divisive, and worth trying before you fill a box.
Donut or Saturn
Flat, white-fleshed and mild. Children love them and they bruise if you breathe on them.
Once you are home
Most people pick more than they planned to.
- Ripen on the counter in a single layer, shoulders down, out of the sun. Only refrigerate once they give
- Blanch thirty seconds and the skins slip off with no effort at all, which makes freezing and canning quick
- Freeze in sugar or in juice rather than dry, because peaches brown badly without something around them
- Grill the underripe ones. Heat does what the counter could not
Where you can pick peaches
137 farms across 17 regions, earliest season first. Every date came from the farm's own words.
Published prices
$2.00 to $2.99 per pound
San Francisco, CA8 farms
Farmer's Daughter Produce, Three Nunns Farm, Pomeroy Farm and 5 more
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May to August
Atlanta, GA5 farms
Jaemor Farms, Southern Belle Farm, Sweets Berry Farm and 2 more
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May to August
New York, NY18 farms
Ochs Orchard, Wilkens Fruit and Fir Farm, DuBois Farms and 15 more
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June to September
Charlotte, NC4 farms
Bush-N-Vine Farm, Apple Hill Orchard and Cider Mill, Black's Peaches and 1 more
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June to August
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June to August
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June to August
Washington, DC17 farms
Marker-Miller Orchards, Great Country Farms, Baugher's Orchards and Farms and 14 more
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July to September
Philadelphia, PA12 farms
Weaver's Orchard, Kauffman Orchards, Linvilla Orchards and 9 more
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July to September
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July to September
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July to September
Boston, MA30 farms
Scooter's Farm of Woodmont, Cider Hill Farm, Tougas Family Farm and 27 more
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August to September
Lyman Orchards, March Farm, Bishop's Orchards Farm Market & Winery and 10 more
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August to September
Overhiser Orchards, Crane Orchards, Grange Fruit Farm and 6 more
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August to September
Rochester, NY4 farms
Hurd Orchards, Fisher's Fruit & Christmas Tree Farm, Burnap's Farm Market & Garden Cafe and 1 more
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August to September
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August to September
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August to September
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August to September
Farms that publish a price
Taken from the farm's own website, never from a directory. Most publish nothing at all, so these are worth knowing.
