Does It Hurt Peaches to Freeze Before Picking Them?

Regional Insight

• Peaches grow best in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5b through 8, where winters are chilly but not so cold to kill buds. In the milder winter areas of the Southern United States, peaches bloom in late February and into March. Fruits are ripe and harvested from June to August. Farther north, peach trees bloom in March and April, with fruit ready for harvest from July to September. It's in the more northern latitudes where some varieties of peaches do not ripen in time before the threat of fall frosts and freezes occur.

Freeze Effects

• A light frost on ripe peaches hanging on the tree is not problematic. Peaches are not damaged with chilling as cold as 31 degrees Fahrenheit, according Mark Rieger of the University of Georgia. However, colder temperatures will cause tissue damage on peaches as their juices freeze. In the kitchen, peaches freeze and store well, but when the fruit is frozen on the tree and the fruit thaws, the integrity of the fruit diminishes and its life span shortens before rot occurs.

Ripeness

• Ideally, it's best to not allow freezing temperatures to occur before peach harvest. In regions with short summers, the peach crop may not yet be at a proper ripeness stage to warrant picking. Avoid picking peaches when they are too green or delaying until they overripen and are soft. Peaches that are small, firm and rather green do not further ripen to an ideal ripe state after picking. Overripe peaches quickly bruise or sustain cuts and blemishes that shorten shelf life before rotting or molding starts.

Recommendations

• If peaches on the tree are approaching ripeness when subfreezing temperatures threaten, cover the tree with an old bed sheet to shield fruits from cold. Once the unusual cold snap ends, the warm weather may still allow the peaches to further sweeten and ripen for harvest a week or two later. If the peaches are ripe when a freeze is forecast, pick them immediately. If the peaches' skins freeze on the tree, pick them and keep them frozen. Thaw the peaches as needed for immediate eating. Refrigerating the peaches also slows down their deterioration compared to letting them rest in a bowl at room temperature.