South Carolina, Georgia, and Texas face off over which state has the best fruit.
Yes, I know about intense college-football rivalries.
The ideal peach is juicy, sweet, free of bruises, and at peak ripeness.
Credit: Victor Protasio; Food Styling: Chelsea Zimmer; Prop Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller
From there, though, it’s up for debate.
Layne loves all South Carolina peaches, especially the ‘Winblo’ variety.
“They were really upset, tweeting angry tweets at me.
I’m like, ‘We’re not taking it down!
I promise!'”
A farmer named Raphael Moses was among the first to ship the fruit in 1851.
It was not until the late 19th century, though, that the Georgia peach gained its fame.
This kind was not only tender and sweet but also hardy and produced abundantly.
By the late 1800s, the Elberta was being shipped to markets up and down the East Coast.
Any native Atlantan can reel off the city’s dozens of streets with “Peachtree” in their names.
Sadly for Georgians, in the 1960s the Elberta lost ground to more disease-resistant peaches.
And they admit no defeat.
Johnson says, “My dumplings are awesome because our Georgia peaches are just so fresh.
I get them from Lane Southern Orchards right here in Fort Valley.
They’re firm and just the tastiest ones in the whole world.”
He set up a nursery near Victoria and the Gulf of Mexico and became a respected horticulturist.
Onderdonk developed numerous varieties of peaches adapted to the Texas climate.
Commercial peach production in the Hill Country began in earnest in the early 1900s and has thrived ever since.
Having two U.S. Presidents who cherished this region helped boost the reputation of its peaches.
Every year I would manage to get down to the farmers’ market and buy several bushels of peaches.
We’d have just loads of ice cream, fresh fruit, and corn on the cob."
So what makes these peaches so darn Presidential, anyway?
