Florida, though still known worldwide for its oranges and grapefruit, is now home to a small annual peach harvest, as citrus farmers look to diversify or to replace groves ravaged by disease and insects.
Known as "low chill" peaches, because the trees don't need as many cold days to produce fruit as more northerly trees need, the fruit is the result of new varieties developed over decades by the University of Florida to survive the state's subtropical heat.
Only about 900 acres are planted statewide, and some of that is not yet in production because it takes several years for trees to produce a commercial crop.
A peach orchard generally requires more maintenance than a citrus grove, because the trees need pruning several times a year and the immature fruit needs to be thinned to ensure large mature peaches for sale. Also, peach trees need to be picked several times over a period of weeks to get the tree-ripened fruit at its peak.
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