Colorado Peaches! (Grand Junction, Canon City, Montrose: buying, to live, storage)

[BlueWillowPlate]

So there is a supply problem this year?
Colorado's peach harvest is the pits
I live right below Georgia, and I have to say, after almost two summers, that I have not yet tasted anything here that comes close to sweet, delicious, and mouth-wateringly juicy Colorado peaches.
(To be fair, apparently the Southeast has been affected by the same spring-freeze peach ailment as the midwest's.)

[COflower]

I picked up a couple of peaches from King Soopers the other day and they were pretty good. I have had better Colorado peaches but they were doable.

As the article states though, even though the numbers are down, the later season peaches should be better than the early season.

Hopefully the store has a new batch so I can pick up a couple more today. Yum.

[winglady]

It's good to live on the Western Slope! We can pick up wonderful peaches at the roadside stands that fruit growers set up around town, or visit our local farmers market to get peaches that haven't been trucked all over the state (or country). They're wonderful!

Here's a link to some info on Colorado harvest festivals, including the Palisade Peach Fest (it's from last year, but I think most or all of these are being held this year as well)

Here's the updated link to this year's schedule:
Palidade Peach Festival - Schedule

My mouth is watering!

[Nadine]

We have had peaches running out our ears from 2 trees. I have canned, frozen and given away, lugs full. Little smaller than they should have been because they did not get thinned as well as they should have been. But we have color picked and the last of them were good size. The western slope usually has very good peaches, did not know they got frozen this yr, we seemed to have escaped. I believe the reason peaches, melons, tomatoes, apples along with some other produce from Colorado is different in flavor and juiciness, is the warm days and cool nights, makes for wonderful flavor. But picking fresh and eating, sure is a whole lot more tasty than buying from store.

Canon City used to be a agricultural center. But most is gone as it is disappearing in a great deal of the state. This has been discussed to death in other posts.

[CosmicWizard]

Peaches seem to be very abundant at the weekly Grand Junction farmers market....and also VERY TASTY! We bought a 25 lb box, so'I've been eating 2 or 3 peaches a day for the last few weeks. The Palisades Peach festival is coming up soon. Over the years, I've eaten peaches from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, and several other states. In my opinion, Colorado peaches are the best, with Pennsylvania coming in a close second. Georgia peaches are way overrated.

blessings...Franco

[formercalifornian]

Reading through 5280 this past week, I came across a simple way to create an elegant dessert with those succulent peaches...

Cut peach in half and remove the pit. Saute cut sides down in a pan with butter and honey until heated through and beginning to carmelize. Serve immediately with raspberry sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Drizzle the pan sauce on top.

I thought I'd died and gone to heaven!

[kwk722]

Those peaches are addictive! I'm going to have to go and get some when I get back to CO. What time of year are they most available?

[Nadine]

Originally Posted by kwk722

Those peaches are addictive! I'm going to have to go and get some when I get back to CO. What time of year are they most available?

NOW, the last of mine are dead ripe and falling off the tree. There are some varies that are a might later and some have been picked and held in cold storage. Of coarse right off the tree is the best But cool rooms does not hurt them too much.

[jazzlover]

Peaches have always been a touchy crop in Colorado. The two threats are frost and hail damage. My Western Slope orchardist friends always figured if they got 3 years of good peach crops out of 7, they were doing pretty well.

Unfortunately, the biggest problem of the fruit industry in Colorado is that it is a dying industry. Rural land development is chewing up orchard land at an alarming rate. In Delta County, where I have family, the orchard acreage has decreased by about half in the last 10 years or so. In Mesa County, the same thing is happening, plus there vineyards are displacing a lot of former peach orchard acreage.

There also used to be a substantial number of orchards in Fremont, Montrose, La Plata, and Montezuma counties. Now, of those, only Montrose has any significant acreage left. At the present rate of decline, Colorado fruit will probably pretty much be a memory within another decade or so. Another piece of "progress" that we don't need, but probably are going to get.