Let's talk peaches - shall we? Peaches are...
Wait, what? This is a nectarine? Yeah but it's
also a peach! It's a peach without fuzz! I know...a lot of us think of nectarines
as a separate fruit, but it's just a variety of peach. Think of a Granny Smith -
it has its own unique color and flavor, but it's still an apple.
And because nectarines don't have that fuzz, they're a bit harder to grow.
So what's all the fuzz about? To uncover that secret, we have to find out: Peach - How Does it Grow?
We've come to historic Mullica Hill, in the southern farmlands of New Jersey.
Peach farmer Tom Holtzhauser traces his family roots here to 1771.
And his 120 year old farm is dedicated to 30 different kinds of peaches.
The Latin name for peach is "Prunus Persica", which means "persian plum".
Relax - I'm not going to tell you that peaches are plums...but they are in the same
botanical family, along with other stone fruits like apricots and cherries, even almonds...
The Persian part is misleading. Alexander the Great
brought the first peaches to Europe from Persia, but peaches originally came from
China, where they were the coveted fruit of royalty.
In the late 1500s, European immigrants brought peaches to the Americas, where they became one of the
nation's first commercial fruit crops. And they thrived in New Jersey,
which still today is a proud peach pioneer.
You know these flat donut peaches: so-called
because when you pop the pit out, they look like a doughnut!
These first hit the market in the late 70s, thanks to a variety called Saturn,
which was developed right here in New Jersey. And even though flat peaches had
been grown for centuries, the resilient yet super-sweet Saturn was the one that
kicked off the commercial demand for donut peaches around the world.
The orchards here are full of beautiful varieties of white and yellow peaches,
with names like "Flamin' Fury", "July Rose" and "Glen Glo" - just some of the thousands of peaches that exist.
But at this farm, there are no nectarines...Farmer Tom says
he does not want the headache or expense of growing that fragile beauty...
It all comes down to the fuzz. What is the point of this stuff? Is it there just to eat your lips
It is there just to give you haptodysphoria? Yep - there's a name for peach fuzz phobia...
No my friends - the fuzz is an important protective coating,
that guards against insects, rot, wind, fungus...it even helps lock in the
peaches' moisture. Without the fuzz, nectarines are more prone to all of
these things, which means that farmers have to spend more time and money to care for them.
(Tom): My dad used to say "a peach tree itself looks for an excuse to die"...
Now check this out - see how much fuzz is on that peach! You'll rarely see it like
that in the stores, because packing houses have special equipment that brush down
the fuzz. Why? Because we eat with our eyes first! Some people see fuzz and
think of mold...Less fuzz also means the enticing colors of the peach comes through.
A Peachtree can be productive for 20 to 25 years. So each year, Tom digs up the old and plants new trees purchased from
a nursery. It'll take them roughly six years before they bear a substantial amount of fruit.
The life of a peach begins surprisingly in the winter.
Peach trees need more than 500 hours of chill time. The cold stimulates fruit growth
later in the year. That's why peach trees can't grow in the tropics.
The trees bloom with stunning pink flowers early in the spring - so early that frost is a major concern.
If frost kills the flowers, that means no fruit in the summer.
Last year a February frost wiped out the entire peach crop of New England, and cut Jersey's
harvest in half. Farmers call it the "Valentine's Day Massacre".
Most peach trees are self pollinating - that means each flower has both the male and female
reproductive parts. So just a little breeze is all it really takes for the
pollen to fall on the female parts, to fertilize the flower. The fertilized
ovary will develop into the fruit. But before the fruit even shows up, there's a
huge job for Tom to do - he needs to thin out the blossoms.
Since each flower could potentially grow a fruit, he needs to make room for the
peaches to grow without squashing each other, so by hand he and his men remove
flowers up and down every limb of his six thousand trees.
There's no rest for the weary. Harvest season begins here in July, hit its peak
in August, and carries on through September.
(Tom): Try to control your hands from spreadin' the fuzz all over you...
(Nicole): And what will happen if the fuzz get on my skin?
(Tom): You are just gonna break out into rash, and then you're gonna be itching yourself all day...
(Nicole): So long sleeve...(Tom): Long sleeve shirt on first...(Nicole): Right.
(Nicole): What about something like this?
(Tom): All right, it looks ready to go...Nicole: Yeah.
(Tom): But what happens is when you flip it back over, you've got almost half the peach (is) between green and yellow.
(Nicole): And yellow...yeah it's a very light yellow...yeah.
(Tom): So what...what that is not mature and it's not ready to be picked. (Nicole): Okay.
(Tom): You have to take the...the limbs and look up and
underneath of them, to make sure about what color. (Nicole): Okay...okay.
(Nicole): Basically, peaches don't all ripen at the same time on the tree! (Tom): They don't.
(Tom): It's just a quick little turn and snapped and all...
(Nicole): Okay, so a small twist...(Tom): Turn...snap! (Nicole): Oh it snapped right off. (Tom): Snap, you got it.
(Nicole): Lovely! (Tom): All right? (Nicole): Okay, all right, I can do this! (Tom): So you got...you got that? (Nicole): All right...
(Nicole): He's letting me assess these for color and size...I don't know...I'm nervous for him... (Tom): Hahahaha...
(Nicole): Do we have to get into the tree? Yeah? Yeah...
I'm cheaing...he's telling me which ones to do...haha...
Today, it's 104 degrees...
This is by far the hottest harvest I've ever participated in. I am amazed at the
stamina and skill of these guys, who come up from Puerto Rico every year.
[Spanish]
Tom sells most of his fruit to customers right from his packing house. He says
people have been known to drive 150 miles to buy his peaches.
(Tom): Uh...the biggest thing that people have no clue about, is the acidity level in the
white peaches...it's just a straight much more sweeter sugary taste, and you don't get
the bite of the tart, in the back of your jaw - like you would like with a yellow piece of fruit.
Peaches don't continue to ripen after they are picked. All farms pick their fruit firm,
so they'll endure the shipping. Also - so customers don't have to race to eat them all up.
Now how do you store your peaches, so they don't turn dry and mealy?
Here's Tom's "Pro Tip": when you get them home, leave them all out on the
counter - that's right, don't put any in the fridge, and don't wash them yet either.
Let them all soften. Then put the ones you're not ready to eat in a
plastic zipper storage bag, and put that bag in the fridge.
See, peach skin is porous, so without the bag protecting the fruit, the circulating air in your fridge
will strip out moisture, with each pass through the fruit, turning them dry and mealy.
Now, I can't tell the story of peaches without acknowledging passionate
regional loyalties...I know some Americans who won't eat a peach outside of their
own state. I'm looking at you - Georgia...And as crazy as that sounds, there is a truth here:
Peaches do taste different - the hotter
South grows different varieties from the cooler north. Heck, Sicily grows different
varieties from Spain! Also climate and soil affect the flavor. So I say bring on
the food fight! We live in a world of ever-increasing monoculture and
uniformity, where everyone grows the same one variety of banana...and foods like
wheat flour are made to taste the same. Let's celebrate the differences in our peaches -
one sticky sweet fight at a time...