Nothing says spring like a basket full of peaches! While we enjoy the sweet rewards of months of labor, we might forget that tending an orchard isn’t all peaches ‘n cream. Winona Orchard brings a fragrant crop after a patient and carefully managed season of growth. The best peaches are given the chance to ripen right on the tree, setting local peaches far apart from those shipped from out of state. Local peaches develop their full sweetness in the orchard before being picked and brought to market within days, while peaches shipped from out of state are often harder, smaller, and more tart since they must be picked earlier to survive a long journey before reaching their final customer.
Winona Orchard grows over 24 varieties of peaches allowing them to harvest from mid-May, straight through to July. Flavor Rich is the first variety at Winona to reach maturity. Once a peach tree is ready it will produce ripened fruit for about 10 days allowing for 2 to 3 harvests before they’ve bared all their fruit for the season. By growing both early and late blooming varieties, Winona extends their peach season and keeps them coming! Harvest season requires extensive labor to pick each peach by hand and ensure each one reaches peak ripeness. Winona Orchard is home to over 4,500 peach trees planted on 50 acres. Each tree has the potential of producing up to 400 peaches.
Spring may be go time for peaches, but the work begins much earlier! From the moment peach trees are planted in the ground, intentional maintenance is needed to ensure success. The first three years of a peach tree’s life is used to shape the branches that will eventually form the primary structure of the tree. Once a strong foundation has grown, the tree will begin producing sizable fruit for the rest of its 12 – 20 year life span. These steps help prepare the orchard for success, but the true test comes each year as conditions must be right for a healthy crop.
Nature still has the final word on each peach harvest. An abundant crop is by no means a guaranteed–it requires a skilled hand to coax a beautiful peach from the trees each year. The life cycle of a peach tree relies on an intricate series of events that must be perfectly timed. Each winter, temperatures must reach at least 45 degrees to set the buds of the tree which determines whether the buds will form new leaves or peach fruit. Each peach tree variety has unique requirements but many need at least 1000 hours of temperatures below 45 degrees. In Texas this can be difficult to come by!
Once trees begin to bloom in February and March, one good freeze can completely ruin the chances of peach trees producing fruit. As weather patterns become more unpredictable, it can be difficult to control this loss but farmers almost always have a way to overcome. At Winona Orchard, you’ll find many towering fans among the peach trees that reach 35 ft high with 20 ft blades. These fans are employed during possible freezes to keep air circulating in the orchard and prevent frost from setting on the blooms. Each impressive fan can protect up a 800 ft diameter of trees. When these fans aren’t quite enough, even bonfires have been used to keep the peach trees warm through a wintery night.
With all conditions of nature met, dedicated planning by the farmer, and perhaps a little good luck, the perfect peaches can finally be harvested in the spring! Here in North Texas, we have access to fresh juicy peaches right off the tree. We can thank our goldilocks climate (not too hot and not too cold), and our dedicated farmers like John at Winona Orchard. During our visit, John shared that he loves the farmers market community where you get to meet your customers face-to-face. “It’s the fruit and the relationships. [Knowing the farmer] is like knowing the chef. It’s gratifying to bring a crop to market that people are excited about, and it’s healthy!”
Thank you, Winona Orchard, for welcoming us to the farm and for the beautiful peaches!
