MEAD, Wash. – Due to last winter’s cold snap shocking the buds of fruit trees across the region, U-Pick peaches are out of the cards for visitors at Green Bluff farms this summer.
“I’ve heard stories like the old timers talking about it, but I’ve never personally witnessed it,” Jason Morrell, Walter’s Fruit Ranch owner, said.
For a field that relies on growth, this summer is going to be tough for Green Bluff farmers. In his family’s 30 years owning Walter’s Fruit Ranch, Jason Morrell has never seen anything like this summer’s wipeout. Across his three acres of peach trees, roughly between 3,000 and 4,000, not a single peach is growing.
“None of them have peaches on them,” Morrell said. “Never seen it where it was a total wipeout.”
This year’s beloved peach season doesn’t exist. Meaning U-Pick peaches are out of the cards until next summer for the thousands of Green Bluff visitors. This is all happening because of last year’s quick transition from summer to winter.
“We have cold temperatures every year, normally the peach trees are completely in dormancy, they’ve removed all the water from the buds, and they’ve stored them in the roots,” Morrell said.
But thanks to the hot temperatures lasting for so long last summer, only to be replaced in a snap by sub-freezing temperatures early in the winter, Green Bluff’s peach trees never went dormant, and their buds were shocked.
And a lost peach season is a lot of money lost for Walter’s Fruit Ranch.
“It’s going to be devastating for us,” Morrell said. “For our gross sales on peaches for U-Pick, it’s about 120,000 a year.”
There is some good news; Morrell said he has close ties to similar farms down south, so one way or another, the ranch will get peaches this summer. Serving as a testament to a community that works hard for one another, and you.
“Just farming in general is kind of a struggle, it keeps us all together,” Morrell said. “Someone’s equipment breaks, we borrow equipment, learning the knowledge from the older farmers to the younger farmers. Our community is quite tight.”
While the peach trees may wait until next season to bloom, there will still be plenty of fruits for picking. Morrell said the strawberry fields are in fantastic shape. Plus, despite other farms in Green Bluff struggling with cherries this year, Morrell said Walter’s Fruit Ranch is in store for a great cherry season.
So, even without the peaches, Green Bluff is still offering plenty of sweetness this year.
“I’m just hoping to welcome all of Spokane to be in our community and helping us out this year, because a lot of farms are going to struggle,” Morrell said.
Walter’s Fruit Ranch opens their doors for the season June 1, if you’d like to visit and enjoy what Freen Bluff still has to offer, despite the peaches holding off until next summer. Strawberries will be available for picking by Father’s Day.
