By LEONNA HEURING
SEMO News Service
DUDLEY, Mo. -- A mild winter and early spring have created a plentiful peach crop in Southeast Missouri as some varieties have been available for over a month now.
"The peaches that we're picking right now we usually pick toward the end of July so we're about three or four weeks early," said Janet Johns, who runs her family's business, Cates Orchard in Dudley.
Fruits and vegetables being ready to pick a week early or a week late is not unheard of, but nearly a month early is rare, Johns said.
"My dad is 92, and he's never seen it like this," Johns said.
Johns' family has operated the Stoddard County orchard since the late 1950s.
"What we're picking right now are Redhavens and Early Lorings. We're starting on Lorings, which we usually pick the third our fourth week of July," Johns said.
In the U.S., peaches typically peak during late June through July in the South, and July and August in the North. In order to produce good local peaches, producers depend on ideal spring and early summer weather conditions and no late frosts.
"It was really warm this spring, and there were not many cold spells to slow things down," Johns said.
Since the first part of June, Cates and orchards staff have picked freestones peaches, which means the pits pull away from the flesh easily.
"People are not used to buying freestone peaches until right now," Johns said about the early harvest. "It was slow at first; they didn't realize they were ready."
Paula Diebold, owner of Diebold Orchards in Benton, said the peaches are selling as fast as employees can put them on the store shelves.
"People are realizing they're ready and seeing them in the stores," Diebold said. "We've had a very heavy traffic."
Diebold said customers were surprised to learn some of their favorite peach varieties were ready so early this year.
"It has caught on just the last couple of weeks. We had surprising comments through phone calls of customers thinking the sweet corn or the peaches aren't here, but we have had them since the end of May and first of June," Diebold said.
To direct customers with what they're looking for, peaches are packaged by grade, Diebold said, adding the orchard grows 12 different varieties of peaches. For example, overripe peaches, which are used for cobblers, are labeled for customers.
"Then we have some peaches that are firm and they can take them home and let them ripen up by setting them in a warm garage overnight," Diebold said.
And when peaches are soft, they're ready to eat, she said.
Since the growing season was so much earlier than normal, the peaches were not as big in size at first picking, Diebold noted.
"Now we're up to normal, and they're sizing out beautifully," Diebold said. "It seems to have flowed really well."
The drought happened late enough that it hasn't negatively impacted the peaches, according to Diebold.
"The fact that our sites are in the hills, and we did have rain early on, we have not been impacted by the drought like that of other areas," Diebold said. "Our peach crop looks great."
The dry weather also makes for a sweeter peach, she added.
Harvest schedules for other fruits like apricots and cherries were also early, Johns said.
"We're done picking all five varieties of apricots -- and cherries were the same," she said.
Plums are also currently being picked, Johns said.
"Nectarines are going to be here in the week. We raise a lot of sweet corn. I'm picking tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers and in the next week or so, we'll get quite a bit of okra, too," Johns said.
Johns said she usually picks peaches in the orchard, which features 25 different varieties, through September.
Diebold agreed.
"The warm temperatures early on progressed everything," Diebold said.
Meanwhile, Diebold encouraged those who like peaches to get their favorite varieties now.
Johns agreed.
"If it's not already gone, it's going to be early," Johns said.