Local Growers Expect Good Connecticut Peach Crop

If you missed out on Connecticut peaches last season, you should have something to look forward to this year.

The winter season of 2015 into 2016, particularly a deep freeze in February, led to some local orchards having no peaches or significantly fewer than normal. But local growers say this year’s weather, despite the drought, should make for a great peach season.

At Bishop’s Orchards in Guilford, they’re looking forward to harvest time too. The 300-acre, sixth generation family farm saw their peach crop slashed by 40 percent last season. 

“Some growers had nothing, some maybe had 10 or 15 percent of what they normally would pick,” Jonathan Bishop, a co-CEO of Bishop’s Orchards, said.

Bishop said the buds on this season’s peach crop look good and they are on track to be healthy and plentiful when harvest time rolls around in late July.

“We didn’t have any cold events that hurt anything in the wintertime. We haven’t had any spring frosts, so we, right now have a full bloom of peach blossoms,” Bishop said.

So as long as the weather holds up, you can look forward to a season of sweet cobblers, pies and other treats filled with Connecticut peaches.

“People really look forward to locally grown peaches. It’s one of the crops where local makes a difference,” Bishop said. “We’ll just keep our fingers crossed there aren’t any frosts or hail storms or things like that.”

Find a list of pick-your-own farms in Connecticut on the state Department of Agriculture website.

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