Glassboro, NJ — Peach blossoms are now at their peak throughout New Jersey. Blossoms are quite heavy this year, as weather has been cool but not cold.
“We had a little thinning of some buds on our very tender varieties,” said Santo John Maccherone, chair of the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council and owner of Circle M Farms in Salem. We still have a near full crop of most varieties and look forward to having a normal growing season for both our fresh markets and processing markets for Circle M Foods LLC.
“A mature peach tree may have 5,000 flowers with only 5-10% needed for a quality peach crop; that leaves room for a lot of error, whether caused by the grower or weather,” said Maccherone.
“We are looking at a good peach crop, based on what we have been seeing during bloom,” said Dr. Lewis DeEugenio Jr., owner of Summit City Farms and president of the Jersey Fruit Marketing Cooperative in Glassboro. Jersey Fruit, one of the larger New Jersey peach marketers, is noted for its bright pink flowered bloom box often seen in local super markets. “ We may be a few days later than our normal bloom time, but that can all change depending on weather, as we wait for peaches to start ripening in July and finish up in September,” said DeEugenio. Summit City has recently opened a winery, specializing in fruit, especially peach, wines
“I have great crop of peaches setting up,” said Tom Holtzhauser Jr of Holtzhauser Farms in Mullica Hill. Holzhauser. who sells both retail and wholesale out of his packing house and warehouse, is looking forward to a good growing season.
Both Holtzhauser and Maccherone are directors of the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council, a voluntary organization of growers, marketers and others associated with and servicing the peach industry. The council was organized more than 80 years ago to promote the orderly marketing of New Jersey peaches.
For further information, email the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council information office, info@jerseypeaches.com; or visit the website www.jerseypeaches.com Find jersey peaches on facebook.com/newjerseypeaches. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Peaches.
The New Jersey Peach Promotion Council is a non-profit voluntary organization of growers, shippers, wholesalers and associated industries dedicated to maintaining a viable peach industry in the Garden State for the purpose of preserving farmers and farmland; and to providing the highest quality and best tasting fresh peaches for consumers. New Jersey is the fourth largest peach producing state in the country, with approximately 80 orchards on 5,500 acres.
Source: The New Jersey Peach Promotion Council