Peaches

Welcome summer! I think I can safely say that peaches are our families absolute favorite fruit (strawberries a close second:) We have planted several different varieties so that when they mature we should be able to eat tree-ripened fruit from June thru August. This is the first real harvest from our 4 yr. old Sun Crest tree, and we are thrilled. This is the peach made (relatively) famous by David Mas Masumoto in his book Epitaph for a Peach.

Sun Crest is one of the last remaining truly juicy peaches. When you wash that treasure under a stream of cooling water, your fingertips instinctively search for the gushy side of the fruit. Your mouth waters in anticipation. You lean over the sink to make sure you don't drip on yourself. Then you sink your teeth into the flesh and the juices trickle down your cheeks and dangle on your chin. This is a real bite, a primal act, a magical sensory celebration announcing that summer has arrived.

The family still farms organically on 80 acres south of Fresno and David Masumoto also writes a column for the Fresno Bee. Ironically, for a peach developed and grown in the Central Valley, we had to drive to the coast to find a tree to purchase. But we've not been disappointed; they are absolutely delicious peaches. Definitely worth the wait... and the drive!