TYPES OF PEACHES

You’ve probably heard of clingstone and freestone peaches, but did you know that within those categories (along with a couple more), there are dozens of varieties of peaches available in the short time that is peach season?

It’s a commonly asked question - which peaches are available? - so we’ve broken our harvesting schedule down to share when you’ll find each of the varieties we produce on the farm available for you to take home and enjoy.

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Clingstone peaches

At the start of the season, we harvest clingstone peaches, a set of varieties that is descriptively named for the fruit that is attached to the stone or pit of the peach. These peaches are perfect for eating fresh. They’re typically smaller, juicy and sweet, and are ideal for getting peach season off to a fresh start.

Clingstones are also excellent for canning and preserving, but the effort to get the flesh separated from the seed makes the process a bit more cumbersome.

At Pearson Farm, we harvest 12 varieties of clingstone peaches between early May and early June:

Clingstone Peaches
Type of Peach Harvest Time
Flavorich Early May
Carored Mid May
Zee Diamond Mid May
Springflame Mid May
Brittney Lane Mid May
Goldprince Late May
Zee Pride Late May
Rubyprince Late May
Fiesta Gem Late May
Summerprince Late May
Early Rich Early June
Sureprince Early June

SEMI-FREESTONE PEACHES

These early season peaches have some characteristics of both the clingstone and freestone peach. They combine the sweetness of clingstone peaches with the easiness of freestones for a highly desirable peach. These varieties are mostly available to harvest during the latter part of the month of May, but are fitting for canning projects so that you can enjoy them long into the summer and fall.

Our farm produces 6 varieties of semi-freestone peaches:

Semi-Clingstone Peaches
Type of Peach Harvest Time
Gala Early June
Rich Lady Early June
Rich Pride Early June

FREESTONE PEACHES

As you would expect, freestone peaches are not attached to the pits, making it much easier to slice the fruit. Typically larger than clingstone peaches, freestones are best eaten fresh and are popular in markets and grocery stores mid-summer.

These versatile varieties make great additions to fresh meals and baked goods, but are also wonderful to preserve or can for later use. Once we begin harvesting these varieties in mid-June, they’re available throughout the remainder of the season. Our Prince varieties available in our Pearson Prince Subscription all fall into the freestone category.

Our farm grows 19 varieties of freestone peaches from late May to late July:

Freestone Peaches
Type of Peach Harvest Time
June Flame Early June
Harvester Early June
Blazeprince Early June
Sierra Rich Early June
Fireprince Mid June
Scarlet Prince Mid June
PF-23 Late June
Julyprince Late June
Summer Gold Late June
Zee Lady Early July
Early Augustprince Early July
Augustprince Mid July
August Lady Late July
Valley Sweet Late July
Fat Lady Late July
Flameprince Late July

HEIRLOOM PEACHES

Mid to late season, heirloom peaches make their debut with popular varieties that have been established for more than 50 years. These are the peaches we grew up picking, packing and enjoying in summers gone by. These peaches take us back to lazy afternoons spent on porch swings listening to our daddy’s gentle laughter as they told stories and churned homemade peach ice cream. Most of these varieties aren’t shipped and are only available in our retail store.

Heirloom peaches were, throughout the years and advanced farming experience, replaced by varieties that were bred to have redder skins. The breeders in our area worked very hard to ensure that quality and taste was not lost in the breeding process, so it would be difficult for us to say that they are better just because they are heirloom - they’re just the original!

The most popular heirloom peach, the Elberta, has been called America’s Favorite Peach. The Elberta peach tree is typically plentiful, producing up to 150 pounds of peaches in a season. Heirloom peaches are highly memorable because of their size, color and richness - the perfect end to a Georgia peach season.

Heirloom peaches are highly memorable with their size, color and richness - the perfect close to a peach season. At Pearson Farm, we grow 6 varieties of heirloom peaches:

Heirloom Peaches

 

Flavorcrest Early June
Pearson Berta Early June
Southland Mid June
Cresthaven Mid July
Elberta Mid July
Dixiland Mid July
Monroe Mid July
O’Henry Late July

With so many varieties to choose from, there’s always a wide selection of peaches available at Pearson Farm. While you can’t request variety when you purchase peaches online, the season brings an incredible journey through varieties and flavors of the fresh Georgia peaches we work so hard to perfect and provide to you. Whether you shop local farmers markets, visit the farm for a basket or order online for delivery, we’re proud to provide you with the best peaches from our family’s Georgia farm.