New Jersey is one of the nation’s top growers of peaches, ranking in the top five in production in the U.S. most years, according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service. Producers annually harvest approximately 60 million pounds with a wholesale value of about $35 million on nearly 4,000 acres.
Larchmont Farms of Upper Pittsgrove, NJ is a 12th-generation farm owned by Tom Dunn and Charles and Keith Haines. Located on more than 800 acres, the farm grows high-quality peaches and other fruits, the release said. Larchmont Farms runs its entire operation on solar power and has all of its fruit packed in boxes that are made from 100% recycled paper, according to the release.
“The season is off to a great start, and we are anticipating an outstanding year,” Charles Haines of Lardchmont Farms in a New Jersey Department of Agriculture press release. “The weather we have had so far has been what we need. We take great pride in the steps we’ve taken in making our operation environmentally friendly and plan to continue a family business that started in colonial times.”
All of New Jersey’s peach crop is sold to the fresh market via supermarkets, farm markets, specialty produce stores, you-pick operations, and community farmers markets. Jersey peaches are shipped all over the eastern U.S. and eastern Canada.
According to the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council, yellow flesh comprises 90% of Jersey peaches, white flesh makes up 4%, yellow and white flesh nectarines are 6% and the newer doughnut, or flat peaches, make up less than 1%.
The first peach variety of New Jersey’s season is Sentry, followed by Gala, Flavorcrest, Loring and Red Haven, the release said. Next is the John Boy season followed by the Crest Haven, Gloria, Jersey Queen and Fayette varieties. The Encore and Laurol varieties wrap up the state’s peach season in mid-to-late September. White peaches are expected to begin shipping around the end of July and continue through mid-September.