In his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” T.S. Eliot famously asked, “do I dare to eat a peach?” With the delicious peaches growing at Weaver’s Orchard this summer, the answer is a resounding YES.
Peaches are in season from mid-July to late August, and this year, Weaver’s Orchard expects a particularly good haul until August 19. President Ed Weaver notes that the fruit is reaching a good size, and they’re plentiful. “And with abundant sunshine,” says Ed, “the flavor and sweetness are very good.”
Weaver’s Orchard is offering peaches in its market and also pick-your-own. If you’d like to harvest the fruit yourself, here are some of the orchard’s tried-and-true tips for picking delicious peaches:
- Your first instinct may be to judge a peach’s ripeness by the fruit’s redness. Instead, look toward the “background color” rather than the “foreground” red color. If the background is yellow instead of green, it promises to be a ripe and tasty peach.
- Select peaches that are still firm, as these stone fruits bruise easily (hence the phrase “bruise like a peach”). You don’t want these delicate fruits getting banged up before you have the chance to eat them!
- Pick peaches from the tree gently. Use the length of your fingers, instead of a close grip with your fingertips. Settle the fruit carefully in your container of choice. Weaver’s recommends placing your peaches in a cardboard box or basket. Bags and deep buckets increase the risk of bruising, especially for the fruit that ends up on the bottom.
Fun fact: You can use these tips for selecting nectarines, too. Nectarines are essentially fuzzless peaches. Sometimes peaches will even grow from nectarine seeds!
Peachy Keen Recipes
Biting into a fresh, juicy peach is one of life’s greatest pleasures, but you aren’t limited to eating them whole. To that end, Weaver’s Orchard has compiled some creative recipes to use up your peach haul.
For example, instead of ordering delivery, why not try making this peachy pizza?
Peach, Ricotta and Balsamic Focaccia Pizza
Timing: 18-22 hours for the dough, 20 minutes for baking the pizza
Serves: Three to Four
Ingredients
Overnight “Poolish”:
- 250 grams (1⅔ cups) flour
- 0.8 grams (1/4 teaspoon) instant yeast
- 250 grams (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) water at 80 °F
Final Dough:
- 250 grams (1⅔ cups) flour
- 10 grams (1½ heaping teaspoons) salt
- 125 grams (1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons) very warm water (around 105 °F)
Toppings:
- 1½ cups ricotta cheese
- 6–8 ripe peaches
- Balsamic vinegar glaze
- Several handfuls basil leaves
Method
- The night before you plan to bake the focaccia, make your “poolish.” In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, yeast and water. It will be a very wet mixture. Cover it with plastic wrap or a tea towel and set it aside at room temperature overnight.
- The following morning (12–14 hours later), check your poolish mixture. It should be very bubbly, with bubbles rising to the surface and popping every few seconds.
- Next, mix together the flour and salt. Measure out the warm water.
- Pour the water around the edge of the poolish to loosen the mixture from the side of the bowl. Add the flour and salt mixture and combine by hand until the mixture resembles dough. Note that it will not be the same consistency as traditional pizza dough—it will be much more wet.
- Cover the mixture and leave it out at room temperature for an additional 6–8 hours. Either allow the dough to proof in a mixing bowl or directly on your oiled baking pan.
Baking the Pizza
- Preheat oven to 500 °F.
- Choose a cookie sheet with at least a ½-inch rim. Generously coat the cookie sheet with olive oil. Stretch the dough evenly onto the cookie sheet.
- Bake crust plain for 5 minutes.
- Remove crust from oven, spread ricotta cheese on it, top with peaches (tightly packed onto dough) and then return to oven for 10–15 minutes longer.
- Once it’s nearly ready, drizzle with balsamic glaze and cover with basil. Return to oven for one more minute to allow basil to wilt.
Hungry for more recipe ideas? Check out the Weaver’s Orchard Pinterest board.
Yes, We Can
Worried you’ll miss the taste of peaches after summer ends? Maybe you brought home too much fruit? Not to worry. Canning is a great way to ensure you will enjoy peaches all year round. Weaver’s Orchard offers a comprehensive guide to preserving summertime goodness through canning.
Whether they’re freshly plucked from the tree, cooked into dinner or made into tasty preserves, peaches are some of the finest delicacies summer has to offer. Stop by Weaver’s Orchard and obtain this fabulous fruit while they’re still in season!
Find Weaver’s Orchard at 40 Fruit Ln. in Morgantown; phone: (610) 856-7300.
- Photos: Weaver's Orchard
