By Clint Thompson
What a difference a year makes for Alabama peach producer Jackson Reeves.
Last year’s crop was decimated by two spring freeze events.
“Last year we didn’t have our early peaches and we didn’t have our late peaches. We still had some of our peaches right in the middle of July, but we didn’t have a full crop,” Reeves noted.
This year’s crop tells a different story, however.
“We’ve been saying that all season that we really need a full peach crop this year,” Reeves said. “We’ve got a full crop. It’s as many peaches that we’ve had in the last four or five years, probably. We had some late frost, but we weren’t far enough along for it to hurt much. It killed some blooms but nothing we wouldn’t have thinned off anyways.”
Reeves’ fellow farmers are echoing his sentiment that there should be a full crop.
“Our guys up in Athens, they say they’ve got a full crop also, and our farmer down in Dodge City, he’s got a full crop also, too. The two farmers that we’re most in contact with got full crops also,” Reeves said.
Reeves’ Peach Farm
Reeves’ Peach Farm is located in Hartselle, Alabama, located just southwest of Huntsville. The farm consists of 70 to 80 acres, though Reeves admits his intention is to plant at least 30 more this year.
“We’ve been trying to get new places ready to plant. We grow about as much as we can sell right now,” Reeves said. “People want them, that’s for sure.”
Reeves estimated that his early peach varieties are less than a month away from being harvested.
“Some of the early peaches are sizing up pretty good. I say they’re a little over a golf ball size with no color yet. I’d say it’s about three weeks probably,” Reeves said.