At the Market This Week:

Tomorrow (Wed. 6/2), we will be at the market under the Pavilion at Central Park in College Station from 4-7PM. We will have TexKings available at this market. These clingstone peaches are big, ripe, juicy and sweet! Come enjoy the first fruits of the summer tomorrow afternoon, and say a big hello to the Peach Man... my dad! He's kinda shy, but he knows his peaches!

On Friday, June 4, I will be set up with other vendors of the BVFM in conjunction with Art Step and First Friday in Downtown Bryan. We will be located across the street from Village Café in the parking lot of St. Andrews church. This event will last from 5-9PM. I will be there with peaches, soap and baskets. I will be bringing more TexKings and maybe even the first of the freestones (stay tuned!). Come enjoy the fun in downtown Bryan and take home some local produce and other handmade creations.

On Saturday, June 5, we will be back the market in Bryan from 8-12PM at the Health Dept parking lot (corner of Texas Ave. and Wm Jennings Bryan Pkwy). I am watching the TexStars closely… these are the first of the freestones! I believe at least some of them will be ready for picking later this week. I will post to this blog if indeed they are ready Friday or Saturday. At first taste, these are really sweet peaches - the sweetest ones yet!

The Power of Attraction

When I walk through the orchard, the fragrance is strong. The smell of ripening peaches is one of nature’s most powerful perfumes. Everyday I walk out there to test the ripeness of the peaches and I notice more and more bugs and the barking of a squirrel in nearby trees (he thinks I’m an invader!). Creatures seen and unseen come from all over, drawn by the smell of sweet peach nectar. When to pick then becomes a gamble… how long do we wait to pick them because the risk of being bitten and partially eaten by bugs, caterpillars or birds is greater the longer we wait.

These TexKings have an incredible smell and they are nice-sized, juicy and sweet although not as sweet as ones to come. I will be bringing more of these beauties to market on Saturday. However, I’m looking ahead as well because the sweetest of our varieties have yet to ripen. The freestone varieties are the most well-known and desired peaches of summer. The first of them will be available early to mid-June.

And the Season Begins...

We had a great day yesterday at the BVFM. We sold out early, which I hate because it means I didn't bring enough. But, that is always the case so early in the season. However, it's a different story this Wednesday. We will have double the quantity of peaches that we had on Saturday. Not only that - but the TexKings will be coming in.

TexKing, an A&M variety, is a clingstone peach that is large, juicy and full of flavor. As you can see from the photo, these guys are a great size and they are dripping with sweetness! This is a delicious peach.

The Wednesday market is held May-August at Central Park in College Station under the Pavilion from 4-7PM. The Saturday market is held year-round at the corner of Texas Ave. and William J. Bryan Pkwy. in Bryan.

And the Winner is...

I will be bringing Regal peaches to the farmer's market this Saturday. TexKing are not quite ready yet - probably one more week. The ripening Regal peaches held on during the 60mph gusts we had earlier this week... we were lucky! A few days later and it might have been a different story.

We have 6 trees of Regal peaches in various stages of ripening, so I won't know how many I will be bringing until I pick them on Friday. Each tree has an abundance of peaches, though. Regal is a semi-freestone variety. They are a nice size peach, and very juicy. They have a good flavor although not as sweet as some we will be bringing later on.

We have one apricot tree that is loaded so there is a chance I might be bringing in apricots, but more likely that they will ripen for next Wed.

See you at the BVFM on Saturday!

The Race to be First

Two varieties are in the running to be first from our orchard to market this season – TexKing and Regal. TexKing, created by A&M, is a clingstone peach and Regal is a semi-freestone. The early birds of each variety are already turning all shades of peachy red, and every day the change is more noticeable. We have at least one more week – probably two – before we’ll bring them to market.

First Crop Anticipated

The first crop to come in may come in sometime around Memorial weekend. These are cling peaches and they're oh so tasty! We didn't have these last year due to the late freeze, and we are hoping to see a good crop of them for the first time since we've started this orchard. As you can see in the photo, they are already good-sized but they'll be about double that size when they are ripe.

Hopes Flourish for this Season

Last year was not a good year for peaches. Although we escaped the freeze that killed peaches in Fredericksburg, our trees did not produce like we hoped. The little peach buds that began to swell shriveled for no known reason. The trees that did produce peaches were stripped clean by squirrels or deer (we're not sure which). We were so disappointed.

But hopes rise again for 2010. We have had plenty of cold weather this winter and nearly every tree is loaded with tiny peaches. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they will continue to grow, and we're putting our heads together on how to solve the squirrel issue. Stay tuned!

Meanwhile, here are some lovely photos of snow-covered peach blossoms from the February snowfall we had. This is a rare sight in Texas, but very beautiful: