Peaches

IFTA Conference Features Largest Eastern Fruit Packer

Touring orchards with Mark Rice is an experience to savor. It exposes you to his cryptic combination of broad production expertise and orchard knowledge, facility with English (and several other languages), political insight tinged with... more »

Washington’s Jim Koempel Named Apple Citizen of the Year

It’s a tradition in Washington state. Each year, the community of apple growers around Wenatchee selects the Apple Citizen of the Year. This year, it’s Jim Koempel of Cashmere, who grows 275 acres of fruit... more »

Pennsylvania Farm Specializes in Adding Value

Soergel Orchards sells fruit salad in a special basket for $54.99 – and people are willing to pay for it. The secret is the basket: a carved-out watermelon. Each hollow melon can hold 12 to... more »

Virus Found in New York, Michigan

After causing a stir six years ago, plum pox virus (PPV) laid low while government officials conducted mopping up operations in Pennsylvania and Ontario. Then, within a month this summer, PPV was found in New... more »

Lured by Good Market, Mexican Growers Battle Harsh Conditions

Mexico shows its least attractive face to Americans entering from above its northern border. Not only do we carry in our memories the televised images of illegal immigrants sneaking through the deserts of the Southwest,... more »

Success of New Varieties Spurs Hunt for More Like Them

There’s plenty of activity in the tree fruit nursery business these days as nurserymen hunt for new varieties -– like “the next Honeycrisp”apple – and sort their way through the many peach varieties growers have... more »

Kurt Weber Takes Helm at Michigan State Hort Society

The Michigan State Horticultural Society’s top position is changing hands once again. Kurt Weber will replace Mike Wittenbach as MSHS president in December, during the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable and Farm Market EXPO in Grand... more »

Adams County Looks at Platforms for Mechanization

Adams County, Pa., with its long history of fruit culture, in many ways epitomizes what is right and what is wrong with fruit production in the United States today. So it seems appropriate that Adams... more »

Research Station Will Likely Lose Its Peach and Plum Fruit Trees

While no official quarantine had been announced, one was expected soon. And when it comes, Michigan State University’s (MSU) Southwest Michigan Research and Extension Center (SWMREC) near Benton Harbor, where plum pox was found in... more »

Primocane Raspberries Fit Just Fine on Maryland Farm

If managing raspberries were easy, would they still sell for $4.50 a pint? Nathan Milburn hopes so. In 2001, Milburn Orchards ventured into raspberries for the first time. The Elkton, Md., family was expanding the... more »