Peaches, peaches, peaches, apples, apples, apples. Summertime. Ah, fresh fruit. Market customers are fortunate to have peaches and apples from north and south. Sandhills fruit is well known to all of us. Southern Virginia fruit may not be as well known.
Leonard’s Orchards is located near the Carroll County Virginia community of Cana, VA. Long time customers remember Dot and Hurley Vernon bringing peaches and apples from their Cana orchards. Today, their nephew Bob Leonard owns and manages the Hurley’s orchards with the help of Jeff Hunt. Jeff and his family make the roughly 90 minute trip from Cana to the Market to sell.
Peach harvest begins about July 10 and runs to September 15 or so. Through summer into early fall, different peach varieties mature and travel south to please us. Apple harvest begins in July and runs through October. You can expect apples in the Market through the winter from Leonard’s coolers. As with peaches, expect to see different varieties as the fruit matures.
Jeff will be happy to explain the processes behind marketing fruit from fifty acres of orchards, including the life cycle of the trees and how they plan for future fruit. He’ll also tell you about his and Bob’s plans to expand the business into specialty cabbage. Yes, change comes to orchards, too.
