Squeeze Play! San Diego's fruit & veggie home team

Of Mushy Peaches and Fruit Storage Perhaps you’ve noticed: we’ve been up to our ears in delicious stone fruit here at Squeeze Play! On July 25th we delivered over 1600 pounds of certified organic Zee Lady peaches alone, to say nothing of the shifting lineup of tasty plums, nectarines, and pluots that are at their peak as well.

We Squeeze Players want to enjoy beautiful, local and organic foods, just as Mother Nature intended, and what could be more perfectly complete than a peach that reached its full maturity on the tree? Peaches are especially delicate and prone to damage, so much so that conventional peaches bought at the supermarket are picked significantly before ripeness and immediately refrigerated. Some are even treated with fungicides and chemical growth inhibitors- harsh chemicals that we don’t really want in our bodies or our environment. This may mean that the supermarket peach looks pretty after its long, rough journey from the field but there is also a serious loss of taste and healthfulness in this process. 

In contrast, our Zee Lady peaches (and some other fruit offerings!) are allowed to stay, secure and nurtured, on the branch until they’re optimally ripe. This is what’s known as “field-ripening”. While this means you’ll enjoy that incredible full juicy savor of summer in every bite, it also means that these fruit require some special consideration. To get the most out of field-ripened peaches and other fruits, time and temperature are of the essence! To forestall any mushy spots that could lead to spoilage, it is essential to keep your fruit in a cool, dry place as soon as its delivered. Because our fruit is not sprayed with any growth inhibitors or fungicides, it’s critical to take your fruit out of its box so it can breathe. The cardboard box fruit is shipped in can retain moisture and heat and accelerate spoilage. If you’re storing unprocessed peaches for any length of time, try to keep them not only out of the box, but with enough space for air to circulate around each fruit. Plan on using or refrigerating within a couple of days. Dealing with field-ripened fruits is indeed a bit of extra work, but giving our food this care rewards us with the most vibrant flavors and richest benefits to our health and well-being!

So, with this great bounty of seasonal fruit, and especially with the lovely field-ripened fruit that needs a little extra attention, what is one to do? Squeeze Player Liberty has been canning up a storm, an amazing way to keep a time capsule of the tastes of summer. Peaches can be canned whole, turned into jams and jellies, and can be a great addition to salsas and chutneys. We all love peach pie, but for a little something new, how about giving Emily’s Never-Fail Fruit Pudding Cake a try?