Peaches are a loved fruit among many. And because of its popularity, you may consider planting a peach tree of your own. Therefore, it is vital to know when you should expect fruit from your peach tree. Follow along to learn more about when peaches are in season.
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Peach trees usually produce a reliable crop from the third year from when it was planted. However, depending on the location, the harvesting times for peach trees can vary anywhere from late spring to late summer. Nonetheless, the summer months are typically considered the peak season for peaches.
Related: 10 Gorgeous Types Of Peach Trees
When Do Peaches Come In Season?
If a peach tree has recently been planted, a reliable crop of peaches should usually be expected around the third year from when it was planted. However, a peach tree can bear fruit in its second year, although it is generally not large enough to produce or support a standard crop.
So, for this reason, it is advised to remove the crop from a two-year-old tree as the fruit production draws energy away from the tree’s growth. However, if a dwarf peach tree has been planted, the tree can expect fruit about a year earlier than a standard peach tree.
Also, it might be interesting to know that peaches are in season almost the whole year-round. However, there is a trick in this previous statement. Yes, peaches are in season the for a large portion of the year, but this is only because the Northern and Southern hemispheres harvest peaches in opposing months.
Peaches are a summer fruit, meaning they are usually ripe and ready for plucking in the summer months. However, depending on the location and the type of peach tree planted, the harvest times can range anywhere from late spring to late summer.
So because the Northern and Southern hemispheres are in opposing seasons during any one time, there is a constant year-round production of peaches – just in different parts of the world.
So, if you ever wondered why peaches in the store are more expensive during certain times of the year and not as expensive during other times – it all could be linked to the peach harvesting season.
If you are in a peach harvesting season, and peaches are in abundant supply and easy to transport, this may affect the pricing. Likewise, if peaches are off-season in your area with little supply and peaches are being imported to your location, this may also affect the pricing.
How To Determine If Peaches Are Ripe?
Using a visual and touch test can be helpful ways of determining whether the peaches are ready to be picked from the tree. If you keep an eye on your peaches as they grow, you will notice a color change. Peaches will change from a green color to completely yellow when ripe.
However, some varieties of peaches do have a red tinge, so using a visual test may prove to be a little more complicated. In this instance, try to pay attention to the background color of the peach. If you notice the background color changes from green to yellow, it may signify it is ripe.
Additionally, the size of the peach may be an indication of ripeness, or at least when it is near ripening. Peaches that are large in size and are on top of the tree will ripen first. Once you have spotted a peach that you would like to test, grasp the peach and gently twist. If it easily breaks off the tree, it is a sure indication of ripeness.
Another ‘senses’ test has to do with a sense of smell. This may be an interesting fact you do not know, but peaches that are not ripe do not tend to give off any scent. So, therefore, no smell equals no taste. However, as peaches ripen, they release a stronger and stronger aroma.
So if you are walking past your peach tree and smell a lovely peach aroma that you can’t resist, this may be a sure sign your peaches are ripe. Furthermore, the weight of the peach may be an indicator of ripeness. A ripe peach will feel heavy. In addition, if you gently apply pressure to the flesh of the peach, the flesh will curve in.
When Should You Not Eat Peaches?
There are two times when you should avoid eating peaches: when they are unripened and spoiled. As such, there are different indications for unripened or spoiled peaches.
Unripened peaches will generally display indications opposite to those of ripe peaches. Unripe peachers are green and hard to the touch (almost like a baseball). In addition, unripe peachers may prove challenging to pull from the tree. If you would like to do a taste test, unripe peaches will have a stringy or mealy texture when bitten into.
If peaches are picked too early, they may not live up to your expectations. Unripe peachers will not taste as sweet or have that juicy-peach texture. This is because peaches do not continue to produce natural sugars after being picked. So choose your peaches wisely.
On the flip side, it may prove challenging to determine whether peaches have gone bad. Some helpful tips, though; peaches that have spoiled may develop soft spots, start to ooze, or develop a slimy texture. In addition, the smell and taste of the peach may change as well.
Peaches have a high water content, about 88.8 % water. So, because of this, they may be more susceptible to mold below the surface and lead to foodborne illness. So, all in all, if you suspect the peach has spoiled or there are visible signs of mold, it is best to throw away the peach.
In addition, bruising may be spotted on the surface of the peach. However, this is not a definite indication that the peach is not edible. It may be perfectly fine to eat. Therefore, it is recommended to cut away the bruised part of the peach before eating.
However, if the bruised peach shows discoloration or has a squishy texture, it is not edible. Lastly, if the peach produces a strange smell or wrinkled skin, it is not edible either, and you should consider throwing it away.
