From bust to bumper crop: Central Mass. peach growers report juicy turnaround

What a difference a year makes.

Last year, Glenn Stillman of Stillman's Farm in New Braintree was borrowing money to offset an estimated $100,000 shortfall, his farm like others across the state having lost its entire peach crop to Valentine’s Day temperatures that plunged as low as 18 below zero.

This year, his bumper peach crop is selling at $3.50 a pound at the Boston Public Market, and Mr. Stillman and Al Rose, owner of the Red Apple Farm in Phillipston, celebrated the turnaround by staging a Peach Festival on Saturday at the year-round market on Hanover Street in Boston.

Some growers across the region reported early summer hail damage to both peaches and apples, but all were uniformly optimistic about the peach and early apple harvest now underway - fingers crossed there isn’t hail in passing thunderstorms or destructive tropical storms in the weeks ahead.

Wesley R. Autio, director of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture and professor of pomology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said moisture, sun and temperature have been ideal this summer for peaches and apples.

“It looks to be a great crop, with large, high-quality fruit. The only exception is the few orchards that experienced significant hail during summer thunderstorms,” Mr. Autio said.

Leaving a few scars on the skin, most of the hail damage has healed. Consumers will see some blemishes, but the fruit will still be of great quality, he said.

Mr. Autio said all tree fruit at the University of Massachusetts Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown looks great.

Mr. Stillman said not all growers have the bumper peach crop they were expecting in May, the result of hail damage from early summer storms.

“There was hail damage locally, but fortunately we did not have much loss. Hail can be very localized. You think you are out of the woods once you get through pollination and fruit set, but you never know. We’ll keep our fingers crossed, because we still have many weeks of peaches to go,” he said.

While the Stillman Farm peach crop was a bust last year, Mr. Stillman said it was a good year for the wide variety of other crops grown on the farm and sold throughout the region.

“My biggest concern was having back-to-back years of a peach crop failure. You can usually survive one year, but a second-year loss would have been devastating. Fortunately both our peach and apple crop is strong,” he said.

And because the farm doesn’t chemically thin its apples, Mr. Stillman said that has meant considerably more work for his crew.

“We’ve put in longer hours and learned to be that much more efficient,” he said.

Mr. Stillman said workers are currently picking Early Macs and Paula Reds, and both Honeycrisp and Macouns are of good size and excellent quality.

“It’s one thing to be optimistic, but I recall an Aug. 25 hailstorm, eight years ago - 15 minutes of steady hail that was disastrous - and who knows what will happen later this fall in the tropics. There’s a lot of truth in the saying, ‘You can’t count on it until you are able to pick it and sell it,’ ” he said.

At Breezelands Orchards in Warren, Mark Tuttle is optimistic about the prospects of a bumper peach and apple crop.

“Last year, not a single peach was grown on this farm and we harvested 7,000 bushels of apples. A good year for us is 21,000 bushels of apples,” Mr. Tuttle said.

Bouncing back from an off year, both apple  and peach trees were loaded with fruit this year, requiring the chemical thinning of apples as well as later hand-thinning of both apples and peaches, the fruit grower explained.

“A crew of seven men spent the entire month of June hand-thinning peach trees to ensure a healthy crop of good-sized fruit. Bringing a tree-ripened peach to harvest takes a lot of hard work,” he said.

Mr. Tuttle said while the region’s peach crop is abundant, consumers should not expect to see a price drop.

“Prices will never go down. They’ll either stay the same or go up, and our price for peaches is the same today as it was in 2015.”

Mr. Tuttle attributed the quality of Breezelands peaches to Paul Friday, a Michigan peach breeder who developed the Flamin’ Fury peach varieties over the course of 50 years.

“We love the PF peach varieties here. There’s very little fuzz on them and they have a deep ruby color. They’re very attractive and delicious," he said.

Frank Carlson of Carlson Orchards in Harvard said his crews are harvesting a good-sized peach crop and picking early apple varieties.

“We have a nice crop of apples coming, and the Honeycrisp look good and are sizing up well, but we’re keeping an eye to the sky as thunderstorms move through,” Mr. Carlson said.

He explained that during a severe thunderstorm earlier in the summer, hail hit the southern end of Harvard and 15 acres of Macs and Cortlands were destroyed.

“Cooler temperatures will bring out the color in the Macs and if we have no hail and no tropical storms for the rest of the season we’ll be in good shape,” the fruit grower said.

William G. “Kip” Graham Jr., U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Farm Service Agency executive director for Worcester County, said early indication is for a strong tree fruit crop and growers across the region are upbeat.

“Unlike last summer, with the drought, there was plenty of water this summer, so the apples should be good size,” he said.

And at the Red Apple Farm, the apples are good-sized and then some.

Mr. Rose said, “Not only do we have a volume crop this year, but some of the biggest apples I’ve seen in a very long time.”

“Our Cortlands looked the size of a Cortland weeks ago and they’re not due to be picked until Sept. 20. This will be one of the best crops in memory,” Mr. Rose said, citing timely rain and serious thinning earlier in the year.

Pick-your-own is already underway at Red Apple Farm, having started at the end of July with one of the earliest apple varieties, Vista Bella.

Mr. Rose said crews are currently picking Puritan, Jersey Macs and William’s Pride and will soon be harvesting Paula Reds and Red Gravensteins.

As for the farm’s peach crop, Mr. Rose called this year’s harvest “a welcome change.”

Mr. Rose said crews are currently harvesting the Red Haven peach variety, the “gold standard” for many growers.

Neil Johnson reports a good peach crop at the Fay Mountain Farm in Charlton, and strong interest among consumers who are finding locally grown peaches for the first time in more than a decade.

Mr. Johnson said pick-your-own for apples should start sometime around Labor Day weekend, but early varieties of Tydeman and Jersey Macs are available at the farm store.

Jim Lattanzi, owner of Hollis Hills Farm in Fitchburg, said he’s pleased with this year’s crop of peaches and apples.

“You never really know what the season will bring until you have the fruit in a box, and last year was disappointing to say the least."

Mr. Lattanzi said pick-your-own is underway with Paula Reds.

Dave Nydam, Brookfield Orchards farm manager, said the pick-your-own prospects look much better than a year ago, when suspended early because of the small crop.

“Right now the Early Macs look good and we’re selling peaches from another local farm. Pick-your-own is set to start Labor Day weekend,” Mr. Nydam said.