Apparently, not much! A peach has fuzz and a nectarine doesn’t. Nectarines seem to have a denser flesh than peaches, but they are very similar.

On a genetic level, http://www.michiganpeach.org/facts/nectar.htm states:

“The nectarine characteristic is controlled by a single recessive gene. In order for a tree to be a nectarine type, it has to receive the nectarine gene “g” from both parents. The cross between two nectarines will always result in nectarine offspring. Most peaches are homozygous for “G”, the peach characteristic. Two peach varieties that have a single nectarine gene are Autumnglo and Encore.”
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This year, we are getting donut peaches. I’ve never had one until I had one last year. They are delicious! Their true name is “Saturn” peach as they are reminiscent of the rings of Saturn but they also look like a donut (which sounds more tasty—eating Saturn or eating a donut?). Most peaches have yellow flesh, but the white flesh peaches are pretty spectacular. Donut peaches are sweeter and a little firmer than the traditional peach.

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Last year, we also received a large number and variety of plums. I’m linking the article to some recipes here. In doing my low-key research about plums for this article, I have learned that they don’t seem to be as popular as the peach in terms of interesting links online (which, I admit, is really not a very good research technique). However, I did find out this: Read the rest of this entry »

Technically a fruit, the tomato is the darling of the summer. Small, large, smooth, wrinkly, pear-shaped, yellow, green, orange, red—the tomato comes in all varieties and flavors that can only truly be experienced when they are in season.

This year, for a lot of tomato farmers, the rainy start to the summer has been wreaking havoc on the tomato. You may have heard on the news, several stories about the highly contagious fungus known as late blight fungus.

This fungus, like many fungi, is found in the soil and spreads quickly. Read the rest of this entry »

Did you know the peach is native to China? I find that interesting as I always think of peaches as a southern thing. In fact, I kind of refuse to eat peaches unless I am in the south. I’ve had enough bad experiences with mealy, flavorless peaches that were picked before they were ripe.

Often, when we think of peaches, we think “cobbler.” Well, to jazz it up a little, here are some recipes that take peaches to another level. Enjoy!

This site, straight from the homeland of the U.S. peach (Georgia):
http://www.gapeaches.org/recipe.htm

A peach tart with almonds:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Peach-Frangipane-Tart-2102

Peach lemonade!
http://www.recipezaar.com/Peach-Lemonade-20970

Peach salsa
http://www.seasonalchef.com/recipe0805e.htm

For those of us lucky to get a fruit share, we will be getting Sour Cherries. They are a delicacy–great for cooking and often used in pies. But they are sour! Some eat them fresh, but they are used in cooking, especially soups, pork dishes and pies and liquers are made from them. I wonder what I will do with them, so I’ve found a couple of articles about them that you might find informative. Read the rest of this entry »