How to Pick Peaches for Ripeness

Fresh peaches are tasty additions to many dessert recipes or fruit plates. Peaches come into picking season between June and August, depending on your location. Northern areas of the country see peaches ready for picking later in the summer, while the warmer southern areas enjoy peaches much earlier. Peaches are low in calories and versatile enough to use for jams or preserves, freeze or bake into pastries and pies.

Instructions

- 1
  Look for a peach with no green color left in the skin. The skin should be yellow, orange, red or any variation of that color group. The green undertone of the skin disappears as the peach ripens, so the less green you see, the more ripe the fruit is.
- 2
  Hold the peach by the base and press gently against the meat of the fruit with your thumb. When you feel a slight softness to the fruit underneath, it indicates ripe peaches.
- 3
  Hold the peach firmly and pull gently. A ripe peach will easily pull off the stem into your hand. If you feel resistance, the peach is not ripe.
- 4
  Smell the top stem area of a peach that is already picked, such as in the produce department of a grocery store. The peach should smell sweet and fresh, emitting a strong peach scent.

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