Introducing a Special Peach, the Heirloom Berta
Early July is a special time of year for our peach orchard. It’s the time when they harvest their best-tasting peach of the whole season – the Pearson Berta Peach!
The grower told us these taste just like a peach cobbler when they’re ripe, but most people will pass them by because they’re not as pretty as other peaches. They look real nice in the photo above, but you’ll notice that there is a lot of yellow and not much of the velvety red blush on them.
You decide. Flavor or color.
The Berta Peach is an Heirloom Variety
Heirlooms have been cultivated for as long as they have, usually because of some outstanding characteristic that makes them special. The Berta peach was originally prized because it ripened considerably earlier than other peaches. Now, its allure comes from its remarkable flavor.
The Berta peach is an old cultivar, discovered in the 1920s and still maintained today.
The Berta Peach Story
During the 1920s, Grandpa Pearson was walking through his Elberta peach orchard one day in early July when on a tree covered with little green, unripe peaches, he spotted a branch covered with large, ripe, juicy peaches. The fruit was not supposed to ripen until early August, so this was quite a surprise.
He picked one and was amazed at its incredible flavor.
Marking the branch, he later grafted it into a tree, and later still, into a whole orchard full of these remarkable peach trees.
In the 20s, most Georgia peaches ripened in August, so when Grandpa Pearson had juicy, delicious peaches for sale in early July, he brought in a tidy sum of money for them, and the extra profits helped him make it through the depression while others were really struggling.
The Pearson ‘Berta peach is named after the Elberta peach, its nearest relative, and of course after the man who discovered it growing in his orchard, Grandpa Pearson. These special peaches are only available during the first couple weeks of July.
Other varieties of peaches that ripen much earlier than the Berta have been developed since the 1920s, but the Berta is still much sought after for its uncommon flavor.
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