New Jersey peaches are still abundantly available. The season that began late and is running late will continue to have available peaches, through mid/late September, according to growers and packers.
“We have the best flavor and size in our late peaches,” says Santo John Maccherone, chair of New Jersey Peach Promotion Council. “Peaches only produce sugar on the tree, so the longer they hang there, the more sugar they develop. That’s one reason why our local peaches are so sweet; they don’t get picked and shipped before they’re thoroughly ripe.”
Alstede farm in Chester expects to have peaches through the end of September. “We still have a crop of wonderful peaches,” says Kurt Alstede. “You can go into the orchard and pick your own – and enjoy many farm activities, from petting pens to wine tasting.”
Larchmont Farms in Elmer said it has a good stock of peaches as well. While locally grown nectarines are finished, yellow peach varieties, such as Flame Prince, Encore, Autumn Star, Flamin Fury PF 35-007 and Laurol, and white-fleshed varieties Snow Giant and Lady Nancy are all in good supply at farm stands, farmers markets and many supermarkets, including ShopRite and Fairway.
Meanwhile, the Jersey Fresh website is running a contest for the best recipe using Jersey peaches. The winner will be awarded $300 from the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council (NJPPC), as well as being listed on the Jersey Peaches and Jersey Fresh websites and other electronic media.
The New Jersey Peach Promotion Council is promoting state-grown peaches on highway billboards, electronic and social media this season with a variety of promotions, including the peach recipe contest on the New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s “Jersey Fresh” site, a challenge contest asking site visitors to spot notices and bins of Jersey peaches and a “feedback” panel for consumer input on the Jersey Peaches site.
“We hope that the combinations of billboards, social media promotions and contests will increase the visibility of Jersey peaches and their consumption. These promotions augment our traditional advertising and promotions", said Santo Maccherone, NJPPC’s chair. "We are also asking consumers to give us feedback in a tracking box on our homepage to help measure where people are seeing our promotions."
For more information:
Pegi Adam
New Jersey Peach Promotion Council
Tel: +1 (973) 256-0460