It's harvest time! Here we share some of that journey -- from the orchard to your table. As usual, our harvest this year began with peaches. After confirming our peaches are ripe, we make our way to Jenschke Orchards, Fredericksburg, Texas where the peaches are just being picked from the trees. These fruit runs are the work of those willing to pamper hundreds of pounds of peaches through 252 miles of Texas heat.
After four plus hours of driving, we arrive in the quaint little German town of Fredericksburg, Texas. Fredericksburg is Famous for its amazing peaches. Lucky for us Fredericksburg is also a hub in the winery corridor of Texas. It only seemed right to visit one of the many wineries in the area before picking up the peach crop. We decided on Hilmy Cellars, located east of Fredericksburg. This winery offers some of the usual grapes without surprises. However, if you like full bodied reds with a nice spice finish, go for the “Carignan”. I believe this is a Spanish grape that is being grown in the Texas high plains. Wow, my mouth did not believe: Spanish grape. You will not be disappointed.
Now, off to the Jenschke Orchard. To pick up our peaches. Then we began our 4-hour trek back to Angleton in the Texas sunshine and the 100+ temperature. Ah, but the refreshing aroma of fresh peaches on the return trip.
The next day we begin the process culling out any peaches that can ripen a bit more. The ripe are washed, pitting and cut to a smaller size. This is the labor intense part.
Washing, yes, the peaches need a good bath. Then the pitting and cutting to a smaller size begins. This is where the trouble really begins. Yep, they are calling you to get a bowl and enjoy the fruits of your labor (no pun intended).
Now, the peaches go through the crusher which creates a peach mash. This is the second round of temptation. This mash is like having gallons of orchard fresh peach smoothie at your finger tips.
For our facility, this is a two person process with a third keeping the bucket moving in and out of the crush room. The mash is then sealed so no air touches the fruit and then frozen before it goes to the vinegar fermenter. All this to create amazing Peach Vinegar -- treat your salad or sauce to new flavors!
Like the winery world, up till now the work has been what you might expect in harvest. But, people from this world know that the bigger part of harvest is still to come, cleaning all this equipment and processing areas up and sanitizing everything for storage or the next round.
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