By D.G. Martin

One of the great joys of summertime for many North Carolina families is a drive to the Sandhills to visit one of the roadside peach stands that dot the region.

The well-drained Sandhills provide for peach trees what the California Napa Valley does for grape vines. When the peach blossoms survive the late-winter frosts and when spring and early summer bring the right amount of rain, it is hard to find anything that tastes better than a Sandhills peach.

Even a perfect peach has to be picked and eaten at the right time.

Peaches are temperamental. A just-picked, fully ripened peach can taste better than the most elegant dessert at a five-star restaurant.

But peaches do not age well. A perfectly delicious, fully ripe peach is right on the edge of disaster. Deterioration and decay begin almost immediately. The best peach will not be as good after a few hours, and it can be a mushy mess of decay in a few days or less.

Peaches don’t travel well either. Ripe ones bruise easily. Temperature variations and the lapse of time make the peach less and less appealing every minute after it leaves the tree.

So the best way for a North Carolina family to get a bite of a most delicious peach is to buy a ripe one right after it is picked.

The temperamental peach can sometimes drive a peach farmer crazy as he tries to manage the timing of its growth and harvest. But its nature is also a godsend for the Sandhill growers. It is this temperamental nature that keeps families driving down to the Sandhills to experience the perfect peach taste that is available only close to the source.

Over the last few years, many North Carolina small farmers found that they can no longer compete with the larger operations. As much as they love farming and farm life, many have had to find other lines of work.

Sandhills peach farmers face some of the same challenges. But, as a result of the peach’s temperamental quality, freshly picked peaches sold by the orchard owners directly to consumers are worth much more than those sold before they are ripe to large wholesalers and grocery store chains.

This phenomenon helps explain why North Carolina peach farmers have resisted the pressures of consolidation longer than most small farmers.

Since it is better to buy peaches as close to the source as possible, small orchards can make more money selling directly at their roadside stands than they can by selling large quantities to wholesalers.

Thankfully, there are still plenty of these family-run orchards in the Sandhills, where we can buy those precious peaches from the same people who grow them.

Greene’s Pee Dee Orchard’s peach stand on U.S. Highway 74 is on the west side of the bridge across the Pee Dee River between Wadesboro and Rockingham. (Don’t miss the fresh peach ice cream that Greene’s family makes on the spot.)

Greene is just one of a proud group of Sandhills peach farmers.

“There are lots of others you should mention, lots of other good peach growers around here.” Greene’s friend and fellow peach grower, the late beloved Watts Auman told me. “We are like a big clan. And the truth is, all Sandhills peaches are almost always real good, if you get them fresh and ripe.”

D.G. Martin, a retired lawyer, served as UNC-System’s vice president for public affairs and hosted PBS-NC’s North Carolina Bookwatch.