A shorter but delicious peach season
SAN ANTONIO- W
ell school is out for a lot of kids now and one of the favorite family outings of the summer, for some, is a road trip for hill country peaches. You may need to plan differently for this season. Picking your own peaches. It's a favorite hill country activity. But this year mother nature has thrown us a bit of a curve. A lot of varieties ripening earlier than you'd expect. While there are plenty of peach stands around Gillespie county with great local fruit...Marburger Orchards, about five miles south of fredericksburg, is the only pick your own orchard in the county. Gary Marburger today was helping a steady stream of pickers today on the fine art of choosing what to pick.
Armed with a box with your name on it, you get to pick what you want. People come here for the experience. And enjoy what the land has to offer.
Paula Estes, who drove in from Austin told us why she came with her school kids. "We you look at food in the grocery store, you don't have any idea where it grows, when it ripens or when it's actually in season and this gives us some perspective."
While the fruit is prime and the crop is spectacular, if you're not careful, you may miss your favorite varieties this time around. Mother nature's typical time table for ripening is a bit catty-wampus this year.
Gary Marburger warned anyone thinking about putting off picking too long. "If you associate that variety with a particular time like the 4 of July or something, you may be disappointed. They've come and gone by the time you think it's getting started."
A good winter chill, a warm spring and timely rains that soaked in and didn't runoff are the reason for the early season. Early or not, it looks like it will be as good a peach crop as they've seen here in years.
Of course it all depends on the weather the next couple of months, but this year's peach season could end 2-3 weeks early this year.
If you'd like a list of the peach orchards in the hill country that sell your favorite varieties complete with phone numbers and maps check out the Hill Country Fruit Council
