NFriday wrote:Are the peaches from Georgia? My Sister told me that Georgia does not raise a lot of peaches, and North and South Carolina raise a lot more. Michigan has a full crop of peaches this year.

Tree Ripe usually sources from Pearson Farm in Georgia for their peaches. Due to late freeze in March, much of the Georgia crop was lost. They will be providing Pearson approved peaches from farms in South Carolina starting this week. More info here.

I bought some Michigan peaches Saturday at the farmer's market. They were okay, but peaches will be better in two weeks, and will be really good in three weeks. My sister is going to start upicking peaches on August 12th. Linda's cherries would have been better than her peaches, but I bought three pounds of Washington cherries from Jewel on Thursday that are just okay.

I’m looking for good peaches but have no idea where to get them. I’ve been eyeing the tree ripe truck but 12lbs is too much for 2 people. Anyone have any idea where to get decent peaches around the city? We could probably do 5lbs at the most.

You need to get to one of the farmers markets. In two weeks the peaches should be really good. The closest farmer's market to you is probably the one in Andersonville on Wednesdays, or the Glenwood market on Sundays. The Glenwood market is in Rogers Park. Evanston also has a really good farmers market on Saturdays. I skipped on the peaches today. The person that I normally get peaches from, only had donut peaches left when I got there, and I ended up getting a quart of Michigan cherries, and a pint of apricots from Linda. Michigan has a full crop of peaches this year, and the freestone peaches start appearing at the market in about two weeks.

Ahh ok thanks! I’ll try the farmers markets around early August. I’m in west town now so the Logan square or green city markets are closest. The last amazing peach I had was in 2008 from a vendor at the green city market but I wanted to be sure I knew what I was looking for so I don’t end up with meh peaches like the ones at the grocery store.

j0emv wrote:I’m looking for good peaches but have no idea where to get them. I’ve been eyeing the tree ripe truck but 12lbs is too much for 2 people. Anyone have any idea where to get decent peaches around the city? We could probably do 5lbs at the most.

We're a two person household and have regularly picked up a half bushel of peaches in the past. I was planning on just getting one of the quarter bushels this year from the Tree Ripe truck but caved and got two. These have been delicious peaches! We've done nothing but eat over the sink or cut up into plain Greek yogurt. Some of them might make it into ice cream but no guarantees.

For those who didn't get enough, or any, decent peaches this summer, the Idaho ones at Woodman's have been very good recently. Bought a bunch Thursday night, put 'em in a paper sack on the counter, Sunday night they are almost perfect.

I got good peaches yesterday at the Evanston farmers market. They were Autumn Star one of the varieties my sister has bred. I have never been to Woodman's. The closest store is 15 miles away, and I never make it up to Buffalo Grove. This next Saturday should be the last week for decent peaches.

Red Haven (freestone) from Michigan have been excellent. We got them at Sawyer Garden Center, along with loads of produce. One of my favorites is the 8-ball zucchini, perfect for stuffing.

pretty sure I saw Red Havens at sunday's (rainy) skokie farmer's market... I'll definitely check them out if they're there next week.

though in my experience the michigan peaches are nowhere near peak georgia peach truck ones.

Those were not red haven. Red Haven have not been available for about a month. They were probably either Flaming Furies, or Autumn Star which is one of my sisters varieties or encore. There is somebody that sells at the Evanston market, who sells red havens the whole peach season, except in the beginning he has early red haven. Yes, there is such a variety. One week maybe 10 years ago, they were the only people that had peaches left. The sign said they were red haven. I asked what they were, and the guy told me red haven. I told him no way could they be red haven, and the farmer came over, and I introduced myself, and the farmer told me they were my sister's Fayettes. The peaches you get right now are mostly freestone, and most of the ones at the farmer's markets are way better than what you get in the grocery store, but they are not as good as what you would have gotten a month ago

There is somebody that comes to the Wilmette market and Ravinia who also sells red havens the whole peach season too. He used to come to Evanston, but he got kicked out because he was selling California plums and calling them home grown. He also told people that his peaches were semi organic, when I knew they weren't because he did not grow them.

Summer's over.
Last peach of the year for me, Idaho bought at Woodman's a couple weeks ago and carefully aged in my cellar.

Been re-reading this thread and would appreciate confirmation of my conclusion—
For local (Michigan) peaches- wait for the second week in July, is that roughly accurate?

jilter wrote:Been re-reading this thread and would appreciate confirmation of my conclusion—
For local (Michigan) peaches- wait for the second week in July, is that roughly accurate?

I am on the board for GCM, so it isn't a secret that they have a vendor with greenhouse peaches from the Midwest today if you want to give it a go now. I have not tried them and won't make it to the market today.

Good Luck!

According to https://tree-ripe.com peach season starts June 15. Looks like nearby early events are mostly in the Milwaukee or farther areas, with one in Kenosha on June 20. The website has been "updated" to function rather poorly at least on my browser.

Half bushels are $52 this year.

pairs4life wrote:...they have a vendor with greenhouse peaches from the Midwest today...

Greenhouse peaches?? Sounds interesting!

tjr wrote:According to https://tree-ripe.com peach season starts June 15. Looks like nearby early events are mostly in the Milwaukee or farther areas, with one in Kenosha on June 20. The website has been "updated" to function rather poorly at least on my browser.

Half bushels are $52 this year.

pairs4life wrote:...they have a vendor with greenhouse peaches from the Midwest today...

Greenhouse peaches?? Sounds interesting!

Tree Ripe has no Chicago locations this year. I don't plan to make a trip to Gurnee, Batavia, Elgin,Lockport, Mundelein or Tinley Park for them either.

I do have friends who come frequently into the city from a couple of those locations so if they can grab them for me that's fine, otherwise I will only have Midwestern peaches this year.

Hi- The Michigan peach crop is going to be much smaller this year. The trees got affected by the cold weather they had in January where it got down to -20. The trees did not set buds, but the trees are not permanently damaged. The only farmers that have many peaches are the ones starting at South Haven and going North. There is a very small crop in Berrien county. I talked to one of the farmers at the Evanston market today, and she says that she has a small crop. I don't know if there is enough of a crop North of South Haven to supply her with peaches or not. The last time Linda froze out, she primarily had peaches from New Jersey, and had Michigan peaches one week from a farm North of her. My sister has a very small crop too, and she has peaches when nobody else does. The last time everybody froze out, my sister had 25% of a crop.

pairs4life wrote:

tjr wrote:According to https://tree-ripe.com peach season starts June 15. Looks like nearby early events are mostly in the Milwaukee or farther areas, with one in Kenosha on June 20. The website has been "updated" to function rather poorly at least on my browser.

Half bushels are $52 this year.

pairs4life wrote:...they have a vendor with greenhouse peaches from the Midwest today...

Greenhouse peaches?? Sounds interesting!

Tree Ripe has no Chicago locations this year. I don't plan to make a trip to Gurnee, Batavia, Elgin,Lockport, Mundelein or Tinley Park for them either.

I do have friends who come frequently into the city from a couple of those locations so if they can grab them for me that's fine, otherwise I will only have Midwestern peaches this year.

Morton Grove on July 11 and August 1.

I'm curious if anyone has gotten peaches from Tree-Ripe this year. Mr. X made the trip yesterday. The blueberries are perfect. The peaches are the greenest I think we've ever gotten. They are lined up in ripening position but I'm slightly concerned.

The GP wrote:I'm curious if anyone has gotten peaches from Tree-Ripe this year. Mr. X made the trip yesterday. The blueberries are perfect. The peaches are the greenest I think we've ever gotten. They are lined up in ripening position but I'm slightly concerned.

I also went yesterday. Got some peaches (pinched several from a box purchased by a co-worker) but I agree with you. They're not there yet. Will they get there? I'm skeptical but hopeful. The peaches I've bought at my local WF over the past 2 weeks have been spectacular, so these will have to be pretty damned good to even come close. We shall see . . .

=R=

Heinens is selling what they call Georgia peach truck peaches. $10 for a box of 5. Seems crazy expensive particularly because they have bulk regular Georgia peaches for $2/lb that are fantastic. Some of the best peaches that I have had in years. The woman in the produce dept said that the truck ones are even better. Might see if they will sell me a singleton to make the comparison.

-Will

ronnie_suburban wrote:

The GP wrote:I'm curious if anyone has gotten peaches from Tree-Ripe this year. Mr. X made the trip yesterday. The blueberries are perfect. The peaches are the greenest I think we've ever gotten. They are lined up in ripening position but I'm slightly concerned.

I also went yesterday. Got some peaches (pinched several from a box purchased by a co-worker) but I agree with you. They're not there yet. Will they get there? I'm skeptical but hopeful. The peaches I've bought at my local WF over the past 2 weeks have been spectacular, so these will have to be pretty damned good to even come close. We shall see . . .

A few of the peaches from this week's truck purchase have softened and honestly, they're nothing special; disappointing, even. Nice aroma and pleasant tartness but lacking sweetness and noticeably mealy. Maybe these first two I tried were outliers and the rest, once they come along, will be better. But at this point, the ones I've been getting at WF blow these out of the water.

As far as the undesirable texture goes, there are notes on the truck boxes specifying not to refrigerate them before they soften or they'll get mealy. I did not refrigerate them but the truck on which they were delivered is refrigerated (and the peaches were cold when I got them), so are they all going to be mealy? Why wouldn't they follow their own advice?

I think I'd rather have a Michigan peach picked closer to ripeness than a Georgia peach picked early enough to withstand longer-term storage and long-distance travel.

=R=

Hi- I was at the Evanston farmers market today, and there were a lot more Michigan peaches than I thought there would be. The peach trees in the very Southern part of the state, as in Berrien, Cass and part of Van Buren county got done in by the extreme cold weather they had in January, and most of the trees did not bud. Farmers from South Haven and North of there still have some peaches though, and I was surprised how many Michigan peaches I saw there today. One of the farmers who told me a few weeks ago, that he was not going to buy any Michigan peaches to sell at the market because they would be too expensive, had peaches today. He does not have any peaches on his farm.

The peaches I bought last week, were okay, but they were the first of the season peaches, and I did not expect them to be great. At least two of the farmers at the Evanston market have their own peaches. Lyons and Barry's Berries. Hope this helps, Nancy

One of the growers who comes to the two Lincoln Square farmers' markets has a Coloma address and has a good supply of peaches which as of the Tuesday market are quite good. The ones from from the preceding week were OK. One other person near me at the stand expressed surprise that they had peaches and was told that the farm is close to the lake where it was less cold in January compared to ones farther inland.

Nobody in Coloma has very many peaches. That is where I grew up on a peach farm. My sister just sold the farm recently, and she told me that the family that bought the farm, does not have very many peaches, and they are just going to leave them on the tree. She told me yesterday, that somebody asked on their Facebook page where the peaches are coming from, and they were told that currently the peaches are coming from New Jersey. Maybe later on they will find a Michigan source for peaches. The first time my Father froze out, he had six peaches on his farm, but he had somebody who used to be his foreman, who bought a farm in Fennville a few years before, and Oakley had part of a crop of peaches. My father offered to buy all of his peaches, so he would have some Michigan peaches at his fruit stand.

I bought peaches yesterday at the Evanston market, and I highly suspect that they came from New Jersey. The last time Keoningshof's froze out, they mostly sold peaches from New Jersey. I bought some of their New Jersey peaches when they sold them maybe 6-7 years ago, and I did not care for them. One week they had Michigan peaches though, and Linda pointed that out to me when she saw me, and they were just fine. I have not tried the peaches I bought yesterday yet. The person that comes to the farmers market from Coloma, is K & K farms. They did not come for two weeks, and I asked yesterday why they did not come. I was told that Linda Keoningshof fractured one of her legs over two weeks ago, and she had surgery last week, and is going to be on crutches for the next four weeks, and so somebody that works for her drove the truck yesterday, and was in charge.

I bought some Lane Farms peaches at ShopNSave on Archer on Wednesday. Kept in a paper sack on the counter, by today they were absolutely perfect. Just slightly tart with plenty of fragrance, sweetness and flavor. They must have been handled very well, too, because unlike the usual there were no bruised ones in the half dozen I bought.

On Friday I got some Big Smile peaches at Woodmans. Those are currently ripening, will be surprised if they are as good as the Lane ones. I like to keep a bunch in the pipeline, though.

The GP wrote:I'm curious if anyone has gotten peaches from Tree-Ripe this year. Mr. X made the trip yesterday. The blueberries are perfect. The peaches are the greenest I think we've ever gotten. They are lined up in ripening position but I'm slightly concerned.

Following up on my earlier post...we have been pleased with how well these have ripened. A cut-up peach, a handful of blueberries and a blob of Greek yogurt is my delightful breakfast these days. Peach ice cream is in our future.

The GP wrote:

The GP wrote:I'm curious if anyone has gotten peaches from Tree-Ripe this year. Mr. X made the trip yesterday. The blueberries are perfect. The peaches are the greenest I think we've ever gotten. They are lined up in ripening position but I'm slightly concerned.

Following up on my earlier post...we have been pleased with how well these have ripened. A cut-up peach, a handful of blueberries and a blob of Greek yogurt is my delightful breakfast these days. Peach ice cream is in our future.

We are also enjoying the peaches and blueberries. I can recommend a variation: toasted wheat bread with a generous smear of ricotta + peaches and blueberries, honey drizzle optional. No need to do anything to the fruit other than rinse the blueberries and cube the peaches (skin on).

Ronna