The good peaches are ready.
I have been eating peaches grown on our farm on The Butler Level for 70+ years.
About 100 miles due south of Hotlanta.
We grew peaches until the late 80s. Then we either rented out the farm, or tried to row crop it ourselves.
About 20-22 years ago, one of the largest peach growers in the southeast approached us about a
long term lease. His offer was one we couldn’t refuse. It has turned out to be about the best decision
we ever made regarding the farm. We finished paying off all the debt, and receive a nice check the first week
in July each year. Nice.
However, the grazing rights are nearly as good as the money.
There are three varieties on our place. A very early peach, a mid-season variety, and the real payoff, a late season
peach called July Prince. We eat a few of the earlier peaches, but we don’t consider them to be “real peaches.”
Let me tell you, these peaches are the real thing! They have a peach flavor that just explodes on your taste buds.
They are great for just picking off the tree and eating, for freezing or canning, and preserves made
from them make homemade biscuits and butter something fit for royalty.
The peaches were picked for shipping a couple of weeks ago. They pick the peaches very green for shipping. They
will eventually ripen, and they are very good. However, they just don’t compare to fruit that ripens on the tree.
Mrs redlevel and I drove out to the farm today, and found some good’uns! There is always a tree here and there with
fruit left on it. One just has to look closely to find them, and that’s just what we did. It took us a good half hour, in 90 degree
heat, but we came away with a half bushel or so of tasty, tree ripe fruit! I have already eaten half a dozen, and will
consume more tomorrow when we process them for freezing.
As years go by, our annual peach-picking day or two becomes more and more important to us.
It is a chance to get back to our roots. During our lifetime, peaches have been an important part of our livelihoods,
and a huge component of the economy and culture of our region. From the 1940s through the mid-70s, many teenagers,
black and white, were employed in peaches, either in the orchards picking, or in the sheds packing the fruit. Now, of course,
migrant workers do these jobs. For many years I operated roadside “peach stands” on US Hiway 19, a major route for Yankees
on their way to Florida.the “stands” usually consisted of a couple of boards laying across a couple of tall hampers, with peaches
displayed in fifty cent cups, one dollar cups, and five dollars for half a bushel. I was amazed at the Yankees in their Bermuda
shorts and sandals, and those accents! I wonder what they thought about the chubby 10 year old kid in blue jeans, a t-shirt,
and Sears Roebuck brogans, with the 12 gauge single shot shotgun leaning against a tree. For snakes, of course.
Anyhow, our foray into the peach orchard today was somewhat of a spiritual experience for us
Silly, I know, but as I get older, these reminders of old times get more and more important.
I have been eating peaches grown on our farm on The Butler Level for 70+ years.
About 100 miles due south of Hotlanta.
We grew peaches until the late 80s. Then we either rented out the farm, or tried to row crop it ourselves.
About 20-22 years ago, one of the largest peach growers in the southeast approached us about a
long term lease. His offer was one we couldn’t refuse. It has turned out to be about the best decision
we ever made regarding the farm. We finished paying off all the debt, and receive a nice check the first week
in July each year. Nice.
However, the grazing rights are nearly as good as the money.
There are three varieties on our place. A very early peach, a mid-season variety, and the real payoff, a late season
peach called July Prince. We eat a few of the earlier peaches, but we don’t consider them to be “real peaches.”
Let me tell you, these peaches are the real thing! They have a peach flavor that just explodes on your taste buds.
They are great for just picking off the tree and eating, for freezing or canning, and preserves made
from them make homemade biscuits and butter something fit for royalty.
The peaches were picked for shipping a couple of weeks ago. They pick the peaches very green for shipping. They
will eventually ripen, and they are very good. However, they just don’t compare to fruit that ripens on the tree.
Mrs redlevel and I drove out to the farm today, and found some good’uns! There is always a tree here and there with
fruit left on it. One just has to look closely to find them, and that’s just what we did. It took us a good half hour, in 90 degree
heat, but we came away with a half bushel or so of tasty, tree ripe fruit! I have already eaten half a dozen, and will
consume more tomorrow when we process them for freezing.
As years go by, our annual peach-picking day or two becomes more and more important to us.
It is a chance to get back to our roots. During our lifetime, peaches have been an important part of our livelihoods,
and a huge component of the economy and culture of our region. From the 1940s through the mid-70s, many teenagers,
black and white, were employed in peaches, either in the orchards picking, or in the sheds packing the fruit. Now, of course,
migrant workers do these jobs. For many years I operated roadside “peach stands” on US Hiway 19, a major route for Yankees
on their way to Florida.the “stands” usually consisted of a couple of boards laying across a couple of tall hampers, with peaches
displayed in fifty cent cups, one dollar cups, and five dollars for half a bushel. I was amazed at the Yankees in their Bermuda
shorts and sandals, and those accents! I wonder what they thought about the chubby 10 year old kid in blue jeans, a t-shirt,
and Sears Roebuck brogans, with the 12 gauge single shot shotgun leaning against a tree. For snakes, of course.
Anyhow, our foray into the peach orchard today was somewhat of a spiritual experience for us
Silly, I know, but as I get older, these reminders of old times get more and more important.
