Glassboro, NJ – “Peach lovers are enjoying some of the best peaches in years,” says Santo Maccherone, peach grower and chair of the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council (PPC). Celebrating the season, the PPC is promoting the fifth annual “Peach Parties” and the third annual “Perfect Peach Pie” amateur baking contest at farmers markets, farms and restaurants across the state.
Chef Will of Brothers Moon restaurant in Hopewell has tasted this year’s peaches and declared them “SO SO good!!!” Chef Will is passionate about the beauty and taste of Jersey Peaches and will celebrate them with 3 & 4-course menus priced from $33-$47, featuring a variety of appetizers, soups, main courses, salads and desserts—all with peaches. His recipes are available, by emailing chefwill@brothersmoon.com
Brothers Moon restaurant is joined this year by Gladstone Tavern in Gladstone, Grain House at the Olde Mill in Basking Ridge, The Frog and The Peach in New Brunswick, and several restaurants in the Collingswood area. The Restaurant Festival is kicked off at the Collingswood Farmers Market, with chefs demonstrating cooking with peaches. Check restaurant websites on the accompanying calendar for dates and specifics.
The various Peach Party and Perfect Peach Pie Contests are fun events for the entire family. There are peach tastings, raffles for peach baskets, children’s games, music, specially made peach dishes, Peach Queen appearances and more. Some farms offer trips through the orchards to pick your own peaches.
2015 marks the third season for the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council’s Perfect Peach Pie (or cobbler) amateur baking contest at farmers markets throughout the state,. held on the dates that the markets are doing their peach festivals. Markets select their own judges, and semi-finalists go on to compete for the grand prizes, with judges selected by the Peach Promotion Council. Two grand prizes of $300 each are awarded to one south Jersey winner and one north Jersey winner.
Just launching this year at various farmers market Peach Parties is a new way to buy “perfect peaches,” shipped free of charge to your home. Farmhouse Fruit gift boxes of 12 hand-picked and packed peaches right off New Jersey trees are ideal for back-to-school teacher appreciations, fund-raisers, host/hostess gifts, and more. Farmhouse Fruit staff will be on hand to offer samples and take orders. For the first year, the company will ship free of charge to anywhere in the US. “Farmhouse Fruit is dedicated to providing sustainably grown fresh New Jersey fruit, straight to your door step,” says Dan Allende, president of the company, which is a subsidiary of Sunny Valley International (one of New Jersey’s most respected packers for more than 25 years). “We are specializing in offering the highest quality peaches and seasonal fruit with excellent customer service, and free shipping—at least for our first year,” Dan continues. “We stand behind our guarantee that “you’ll love them or we’ll make it right.” Check the website at www.farmhousefruit.com or call 856-881-0200 x1011 for more information.
For further information, email the New Jersey Peach Promotion Council information office, info@jerseypeaches.com; or visit the website www.jerseypeaches.com Find jersey peaches on facebook.com/newjerseypeaches. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Peaches.
The New Jersey Peach Promotion Council is a non-profit voluntary organization of growers, shippers, wholesalers and associated industries dedicated to maintaining a viable peach industry in the Garden State for the purpose of preserving farmers and farmland; and to providing the highest quality and best tasting fresh peaches for consumers. New Jersey is the fourth largest peach producing state in the country, with approximately 75 orchards on 5,000 acres, producing 22,000-2,5000 tons, valued at approximately $30-million.
NJPPC grower members selling direct to consumers: Alstede Farms, Chester; Battleview Orchards, Freehold; Demarest Farms, Hillsboro; Eastmont Orchards, Colts Neck; Grasso Girls Farm Markets in, Mullica Hill and West Deptford; Fruit Valley Farms, Mullica Hill; Hauser Hill Farm, Old Bridge; Heilig Orchards, Mullica Hill; Holtzhauser Farms, Mullica Hill; Larchmont Farms, Elmer; Melick Town Farms, Califon and Oldwick; Moods Farm Market, Mullica Hill; Pastore Orchards, Hammonton; Ripple Hill Farm, Basking Ridge; Russo’s Fruit and Vegetable Farm, Tabernacle; Sickles Market, Little Silver; Summit City Farms, Glassboro; Sunny Slope Farms, Bridgeton; Terhune Orchards, Princeton; The Market Basket, Franklin Lakes; Wm. Schober & Sons, Monroeville. Many of these growers also sell at famers marketers in your community
Source: The New Jersey Peach Promotion Council
