The recent barrage of thunderstorms and warm temperatures may have brought humidity and overgrown lawns to some Kansans, but for Scott Beck, the heavy rains have been a blessing rather than a curse.
Beck, who runs Beck’s Farm in Newton with his wife, Sarah, their five children and ten grandchildren, said their peaches that normally ripen around July are already coming off the trees.
“We were really excited,” he said. “Last year we were able to bring the peaches in by about the twelfth through the fifteenth (of June), but this year we’ve taken them in on the fourth.”
It’s hard to guess exactly when the fruit will come in, Beck said. The family tries to stagger 42 varieties to ensure a ripe crop is available all summer. But just like the Kansas weather, peaches can be unpredictable.
“You just never know what each one’s going to do each year,” he said. “I’ve tried to write it down, I’ve tried to study it, and they kind of take on a life of their own.”
Meadowlark Farm in Rose Hill started picking peaches this week.
Beck said the past few weeks of rain followed by sunshine have been ideal growing conditions, and that families are already picking peaches from their 5,000-tree orchard. Beck said the rain has made the fruit good to eat directly off the branch. So good, it will “run right down your elbow.”
“They’re juicy and, oh gee wiz, they’re not like those things you buy at the grocery store that crunch,” he said. “These come right off the tree.”
“If Al Gore was right, and we’re having a little global warming,” Beck said with a laugh. “It’s all right with me”
Lara Korte: 316-268-6290, @lara_korte
PLACES TO PICK PEACHES
Beck’s Farm, 7620 S. Anderson Road, Newton, 316-282-2325
Meadowlark Farm, 11249 SW 160th St., Rose Hill, 316-518-8907
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