August is National Peach month–a celebration that is juicy, delicious, and nutritious!
Originally from China–the only place in the world where the peach still grows wild–peaches have been cultivated for thousands of years. In Chinese culture, the peach is believed to bring luck, opulence, and protection. Peaches are also symbols of immortality and unity, which inspires Chinese brides to carry peach blossoms.
World-traveling Romans brought the peaches to the West, calling them Persian Apples. Peaches made their way to the New World, hijacking with the Spanish to South America, the French to Louisiana, and the English to the Jamestown and Massachusetts colonies. Columbus even brought peach trees on his latter trips to North America. Now, they are grown in several areas of the US, including California, Arizona, Southern Illinois, and the Peach State itself, Georgia.
Members of the rose family, along with plum and apricots, peaches are excellent sources of vitamins A, B, and C. There are many varieties–over 700–but all are characterized by velveting skin and a hard stone (which contains hydrocyanic acid, a poison).
Make sure to indulge in this perky tasty fruit while it is ripe and fresh. Eat it whole, slice it into smoothes, bake it in a pie or cobbler, fold it into ice cream. Peachy keen!