The terms, cling, semi-free, and free stone, refer to the meat and the pit of the peach. When a peach is clingstone, the meat of the peach does not fall off the pit. When a peach is semi-freestone, the meat of the peach only falls off the pit if the peach is fully ripe. When a peach is freestone, the meat of the peach falls off the pit.

2) When can I get freestone peaches?

These three type of peaches produce during different times of the season. Clingstone peaches are the first ones we pick. Their season usually runs from late May until the middle of June. The season for the semi-freestone usually runs from late June until the middle of July. The season for the freestone usually runs from late July until the middle of August. However, each season depends on the weather. If we have a warm spring, peaches generally produce earlier. If we have a cool spring, peaches generally produce later.

3) What is the difference between yellow peaches and white peaches?

Yellow peaches have yellow meat. White peaches have white meat. They do have a difference in taste. White peaches have lower acid levels and higher sugar levels. White peaches are also more fragile. They bruise easier and ripen faster. Most people are familiar with yellow peaches since this is what grocery stores most often carry.

4) Why are some varieties available for shipment and other varieties not available for shipment?

We do not offer all of our varieties for shipment. We only ship peaches that can handle the travel. Some peaches, while excellent to sell in our market or for short distance travel, cannot endure the temperatures inside the delivery truck. Other varieties cannot handle the jolting movement of travel. The peaches we ship to you are the highest quality of peaches available. When you order our peaches, we want you to open a perfect box of peaches.

Also, weather dictates which peaches we can sell. Sometimes during the spring, we will have one or two orchards that will be damaged by frost. While we do our best to protect our orchards from frost and hail damage, we cannot prevent all damage. When this happens, there will only be a limited number of that specific variety of peaches available.

5) I ordered Cary Mac peaches around the end of June. Can I buy another box of Cary Macs for the beginning of August?

Unfortunately, no. Peach varieties only last around two weeks. This means if we start picking Cary Macs the last week of June, then we will finish picking Cary Macs around the second week in July.

6) I ordered Big Red peaches to be delivered on the first week of August. I noticed that the peaches I received where not Big Red. Why did you send me a different variety?

When you request a specific week that you want your peaches to arrive, we send the peaches that are available.

This means your shipping date OVERRIDES your peach variety. Please note that if you only request a variety then we will not ship your peaches until that variety is ripen.

Just as the seasons vary for the type of peach (cling, semi-free, freestone), we cannot know the exact dates for our peach varieties. The dates that appear on this website and in our brochures are predictions based on previous years. The weather controls how fast or slow the peaches ripen in the fields. If you want a specific variety of peach, you should be prepared to receive the peaches earlier or later than the predicted dates. If you have a special event that requires you to have your peaches a specific week, then you should not request a variety name. All the peach varieties that we ship are top quality peaches. You will be satisfied with which ever variety you order.

7) What are the different varieties of peaches that we ship?

8) Do you have the Alberta variety? How about Georgia Bells?

The Alberta and Georgia Bell are varieties of peaches that were popular in the 1950's and 60's. However, there are no true Alberta and Georgia Bell peaches. All yellow freestone varieties are hybrids from the Alberta. All the white freestone varieties are hybrids from the Georgia Bell.

9) Which peach is best for cooking? For freezing? For eating?

All of our peaches are good for eating. But the semi-free and freestone are the best peaches for cooking and freezing. This is because the meat of the peach comes straight off the seed.

10) Do you pick your peaches by hand?

Yes, all of our peaches are picked by hand.

11) Do you allow the public to pick their own peaches?

We do not allow the public to pick their own peaches. Since picking the fruit involves climbing a ladder and other complicating factors, the insurance companies do not allow the option of public picking. However, often times we do have tree-ripe peaches in our stand for retail sale.

12) How many acres of peaches do you have?

We have about 20 varieties of peaches on 400 acres of sandy loam growing outside our small town of McBee, SC.

13) Do you freeze your peaches?

We unfortunately do not freeze our on peaches for the public to buy. However, we do offer recipe cards with an excellent method of freezing our peaches.

14) What is a tree-ripe peach?

A tree-ripe peach is a peach that is left on the branch until it is completely ripe. We do sell tree-ripe peaches at our roadside market when we have an abundance amount of peaches or for special events. However, since tree-ripe peaches bruise too easily to be shipped or to be handled, we pick the peaches firm-ripe. This means that we pick the peach when it is firm but has a little give when you touch it. Therefore, the peaches you buy online, in our market, or in you local grocery are firm-ripe.

15) When do you have strawberries?

We usually harvest strawberries at the end of March or the beginning of April.

16) Is your ice-cream homemade?

Even though many people think our ice-cream is homemade, it is not. We get in from a company called Deluxe. It is located in Mooresville, NC. Here they churn their own butter making the ice-cream sweet and creamy.

17) Do you bake your own pies, cakes, breads, etc. in your bakery?

Yes! We bake our own pies, cakes, breads in our bakery. These baked goods are made daily and with the freshest fruits.

18) Where do you have your jarred products processed?

We have our jarred products processed in Tiger, GA at Hillside Orchard Farms Cannery. We deliver our products to the cannery and they make our products for us. We even have come up with some recipes

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