After a few recent disappointing store purchases I was looking forward to the Georgia freestone peach truck. Arrived at Menards Morton Grove 15 minutes early and found a small line and lots of multiple sales.
Shared with 3 friends and when some were ready to eat on Monday we all agreed they were terrific, great taste and texture.

Once the peaches soften, are folks putting them in the fridge? Mine taste great but continue to get softer and softer. I know I can obviously cook with them or can them, but I'm looking to preserve as many as possible for eating out of hand...

gastro gnome wrote:Once the peaches soften, are folks putting them in the fridge? Mine taste great but continue to get softer and softer. I know I can obviously cook with them or can them, but I'm looking to preserve as many as possible for eating out of hand...

Yes. Once they reach your desired degree of ripeness, either use them immediately or put hem in the fridge.

Went twice for peaches this year, sizes are larger, 57 vs 70 in June box (although smaller than last year's 51).

Also asked about the white peaches that someone mentioned, they said that due to low acid content, that one ripens faster so we probably won't get in our area.

54 in our last box, noticeably larger than the first. Learned a new term for peaches while discussing how quickly the last batch ripened. Was told the farm refers to that as "melting", and thought that seemed pretty appropriate. In a week these will be gone and I'll miss them until next year. Nothing beats hitting the roadside stands when I visit family in SC and northern GA - you can smell the peachness as you pull up to park even inside an air-conditioned car. But Tree-Ripe provides a good surrogate a couple times a year.

News isn't good for this year's peach harvest: http://www.tree-ripe.com/treeripeblog/

More here - https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/30/dini ... -ipad&_r=0

Thank you for the update. I was just starting to think about fresh peaches and this news is certainly disappointing. Keeping my fingers crossed that the season will not be a total loss.

I remember a bad peach crop 3 - 4 years ago. While the peaches were both smaller than normal, and fewer and farther between, those that survived the bad weather were extra sweet and delicious. Here's hoping that scenario repeats itself.

Dates have been announced for when the peach truck comes to the Chicago area, please consult their website: http://www.tree-ripe.com/

Saturday July 1 @ noonoclock @ Menard's on Clybourn por moi.

Jazzfood wrote:Saturday July 1 @ noonoclock @ Menard's on Clybourn por moi.

Hee-and then haw! Anxious to get there!

It has been so lovely having them come so close to me in the city.

This sounds awesome, but I also don't know what to do with 25 lbs of peaches. I assume you can't get a smaller amount? Where else do people get quality peaches in Chicago?

Last night, Mariano's had peaches labeled (tiny sticky tags) Georgia peaches. These are small and hard but we will have to wait and see how they ripen up.

The "sale" price was $1.99 /.lb but if you do not register for a Mariano's awards card, you will pay $2.99. This was not explained anywhere on the display of peaches.

YMMV
Mariano's at
Golf and Waukegan roads
in Glenview

Joy wrote:Last night, Mariano's had peaches labeled (tiny sticky tags) Georgia peaches. These are small and hard but we will have to wait and see how they ripen up.

The "sale" price was $1.99 /.lb but if you do not register for a Mariano's awards card, you will pay $2.99. This was not explained anywhere on the display of peaches.

YMMV
Mariano's at
Golf and Waukegan roads
in Glenview

I was recently at the Glenview Mariano's, I saw a number of signs throughout the store that say the sale price "with card", but was definitely not on all the sale signs. I had an old card with them and they told me I had to sign up for a new card to get any sale prices. Fortunately, the cashier was understanding that I previously had one and keyed in her own card for me to get the discounts. Pretty annoying as in the past, you didn't even need a card to get sale prices.

botd wrote:This sounds awesome, but I also don't know what to do with 25 lbs of peaches. I assume you can't get a smaller amount? Where else do people get quality peaches in Chicago?

I literally took some as a host gift for the 4th of July. You can also split with a friend if you are interested and you don't wish to freeze, can, pickle, etc.

The first year we went, we saw a woman make a deal with another woman for ten of her peaches. I guess if you hang around someone might be willing to sell you some.

I'll split a case with someone!

bnowell724 wrote:I'll split a case with someone!

Love to!!!

botd wrote:Where else do people get quality peaches in Chicago?

For eating to hand local farmer's market. And wait for the Michigan peaches to come in.

boudreaulicious wrote:

bnowell724 wrote:I'll split a case with someone!

Love to!!!

I'm dead serious, please pm me and we can go over details.

1 case per customer limit this year. FYI.

Kman wrote:1 case per customer limit this year. FYI.

Per visit right?

That's all I prefer to handle in a go anyhow.

We ate a lot out of hand. We sliced them into salads and grilled them for dessert. I froze some that I had sliced on trays - to use for smoothies and putting on cereal. I blanched and peeled enough for pie and froze those.

edited for clarity

pairs4life wrote:

Kman wrote:1 case per customer limit this year. FYI.

Per visit right?

That's all I prefer to handle in a go anyhow.

Correct. 1's enough for me as well.

I ran into the peach truck up in Kenosha last week. Supplies were low, but they were expecting another shipment any day. This year, the peaches are on the small size, but the quality is as good as ever.

This year's peaches are redder and apparently not much smaller than 2016's early season, 75 vs 71 last year.

I've had no free time to get to the peach truck, your pictures are making me sad

They come back to Chicagoland July 29, maybe you can visit then!

Wow, these peaches are really freaking good. I must get some more at the end of the month.

Anyone want to split a crate again on July 29th? Send me a PM if interested.