When eating seasonally, many foods, especially delicate fruits, with thin skins and lots of sugar, seem to come and go in a flash. In May, ruby red strawberries were ubiquitous; by mid-June, all that was left were jars of jam and some remnants in the freezer to remind us later of the glorious harvest. Also, with hardly time to get to know them, sour cherries came and went from the markets—with just enough time to pit a few and make a pie.
Now, deep into summer, the pressure seems to come off. There is no rush to eat, cook, can or freeze a quickly passing crop of nature’s bounty. Farms and gardens have settled into the rhythm of the busy season, and the spring of fleeting crops has given way to a time of plenty. Corn, tomatoes, peppers, beans will all be around for many weeks yet. And, of course—as you can smell at any farmers’ market—peach season is upon us.
In a fortunate mix of natural blessing and human ingenuity, there are dozens of varieties of peaches that will ripen in sequence and supply the Mid-Atlantic well past Labor Day. If we make a cobbler this week, there is no fear that we can’t make a pie the next and preserves the week after. Peach season allows us take our time, but let’s not take it for granted.
The first batch of peaches has arrived at Atwater’s. Sweet and savory, fresh and cooked, we put ‘em everywhere. We wouldn’t deny that the best way to eat a peach might just be outside, over the grass, so the juices can run right off. But our Peach Cake is a close second. Don’t take our word for it, try one today, and you’ll be hooked for the rest of the summer!
