Fresh Peaches
Bulk Natural Foods
A Natural Food Coop in Middle Tennessee
Fresh peaches are one of the best parts about summer! And here in the south, they're available for a wonderfully long time. Get on our email list, and we'll let you know when it's time to pre-order.
The peaches we buy come from family orchards in Georgia, Missouri, and Michigan where care is taken to use minimal amounts of pesticides, and other harmful chemicals. This growing method is called IPM (Integrated Pest Management). Click to read more.
Peach Nutrition Information
How to ripen and store peaches
Choosing Peaches
- Peaches are a very aromatic fruit when ripe, so smell your peaches; they should have a deliciously sweet fragrance.
- Look for a creamy gold to yellow under-color. A peach’s red "blush" is an indication of variety, not ripeness.
- Peaches should be soft to the touch but not squishy.
- Don't squeeze peaches; they bruise easily.
- To keep sliced peaches from darkening, add lemon juice or ascorbic acid.
Peach Measurements
3-4 medium or 2-3 large peaches = about 1 lb
1 lb peaches = 2 cups sliced peaches
1 lb peaches = 1 cup peach puree
1/2 bushel (25 lbs) = 12 quarts sliced peaches
At $13 per half bushel, the cost per pound is $.52.
How To Peel Peaches Easily
1. Prepare a cold water bath, either in a sink or large bowl.
2. Place the peaches to be peeled in a colander, or basket, or drop them directly into a deep pot of boiling water for almost one minute. Make sure that each peach is completely submerged and that they are free enough for water to flow all around them.
3. After one minute in the boiling water, immediately plunge the peaches into the cold water bath. You may need to change the water or add ice to keep the water cold.
4. The skin should come off the peach very easily, just like peeling tomatoes.
Freezing Your Peaches
For smoothies:
We like to cut our peaches into quarters and freeze them on cookie sheets. Once they’re frozen, we put them into gallon freezer bags. This way the peaches won’t freeze together as one big block. Since we make smoothies in our powerful VitaMix, we don’t bother to peel the peaches. Check out our favorite peach smoothie recipe here. Orange Peach Sherbet Smoothie.
To freeze sliced or cubed peaches:
Put whole peaches in hot water until the skin slips off. Then put the skinned ones into a big bowl of water you've prepare with ascorbic acid (¼ – ½ teaspoon
How to plant a peach pit
1. If you save a peach pit you can grow a peach tree.
2. After you have eaten a few peaches, clean the pits and store them in the refrigerator until
September or October.
3. Plant the pits about five inches beneath the soil surface. It’s best to plant a few in case some don’t sprout.
4. Mark the location.
5. Your tree will begin to grow in the spring!
6. Keep the tree watered and fertilized and you'll have fruit in 2-3 years!
However you prepare your peaches for freezing, place your freezer bags or containers as quickly as possible into the coldest part of your freezer, allowing room around the containers to promote fast freezing. Containers can be packed more economically space-wise after one day of freezing. Be sure to date your packages.
ascorbic acid per 2 cups of water) or lemon juice. Cut into slices or chunks and place into quart bags. I've found that one quart bag stuffed full makes a perfect size pie. I don't add sugar to freeze them, and it works just fine.
In a hurry to get them frozen?
I’ve tried freezing peaches whole, and although it takes up more space, they actually turned out pretty well. Run them under hot water and the peel slips off. After they thaw for a little while, you can slice them up. The peaches don’t brown at all because they're still in their skins. A handy time saver!
How to Store & Ripen Peaches
Store unripened peaches in the refrigerator until a couple days before you’d like to eat them. They’ll keep longer when refrigerated unripe. To ripen, just place firm peaches on the counter for a day or two.
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