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Peachy Perfect! Hill Country Peaches are Ripe for Picking

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Tony Maples Photography

 

Many people phone Fredericksburg Hill Country peach orchards to ask what the sweetest peach variety is. While the answer may be unique to each individual person, the big picture is that peaches only last from mid-May to about mid-July.  Time’s a wasting! Let’s go get some of these miracles of nature.

1. Pick Your Own Peaches

Peachy Perfect! Hill Country Peaches are Ripe for Picking

Photo: Robert C Deming

Bob, from San Antonio, has come to Marburger Orchard to pick his favorite variety of peach for many seasons.  His favorite? Red Globe. If you decide to pick your own, check with the orchards before you get in the car, as availability varies.

2. Reach for the peach

Peachy Perfect! Hill Country Peaches are Ripe for Picking

Photo: Robert C Deming

For Reagan, coming to pick Fredericksburg peaches is a family tradition. How do you pick the perfect peach? Simply look for peaches with yellow skin.  The red is pretty but is a reaction to sunlight and doesn’t affect the flavor or sweetness.  Peaches, once picked, do not get sweeter; that is why peaches shipped some distance are picked too early and aren’t as sweet as Texas Hill Country peaches. The red spots found on some peaches sometimes put off potential buyers.  Local grower Arthur Danz called them Appaloosa Peaches, causing people to search them out, when in reality they aren’t any different in flavor or sweetness from peaches without the red spots. Spots or no, they are divine.

3. Peaches will only last two to three more weeks!

Peachy Perfect! Hill Country Peaches are Ripe for Picking
Photo: Robert C Deming

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