Summer 2015: A peach of a season!

By Jessica Domel
Field Editor

Peach lovers in the Texas Hill Country were greeted by a pleasant sight this year—a bounty of lush, juicy peaches created by spring rains and the return of El Niño.

“The water definitely helped produce larger fruit, especially with these later varieties,” Jimmy Duecker, owner of Duecker Orchards and Burg’s Corner in Stonewall, said. “Without the water, they wouldn’t be quite as large. We’ve had some beautiful peaches.”

In fact, this year’s crop is the largest Duecker has seen since 2010. “We went through some trying times,” Duecker said. “You go through those times in the Hill Country, but everything worked out for us to have a really large crop of fruit this year.”

Duecker also grows plums, some apples and other produce. Rain helped those crops as well. But it isn’t just the rain that helps Fredericksburg and Stonewall fruits grow and gain statewide attention.

“I guess it’s the soil—the red, clay loam with the sand,” Duecker said. “There is a lot of calcium still underneath that and in the soil. Those factors combined are what give us that good flavor.”

Near Fredericksburg, harvest of the Bounty, Majestic, Loring, Redskin and Dixieland freestone peaches has ended. But other freestone peaches like Flame Prince, Big Red, Parade and Fairtime will continue to be harvested in the weeks to come.

Duecker recommends that peach shoppers call their favorite stand to see if they have peaches before driving out, as the number of peaches at stands tends to drop off this time of year.

He also asks shoppers to refrain from pinching the produce.

“We let them taste it,” Duecker said. “That’s what tells them. Squeezing on a peach, all that does is leave a mark for the next person. Taste them.”

Duecker reports you can also tell by looking at a peach’s color whether it’s ripe or not. Ripe peaches tend to be more red from where the sun has hit them on the trees.

Peaches aren’t just grown in Fredericksburg and Stonewall. Over one million peach trees are planted statewide, according to Texas A&M AgriLife Extension.