After five years of a depressed fruit crop, things are looking peachier for Virginia “Jinx,” Jack and son Ken Hinnant of the Eutawville Hinnant Farm.

“It has been good for us,” Virginia says. “We have not had any for a couple of years. We would just have a couple of baskets.”

This year the couple of baskets have multiplied fourfold with the 25-acre to 30-acre peach farm producing a medium-sized peach of the sweet and tasty variety.

“They have a wonderful taste,” Hinnant said, noting peach production has increased with the addition of young orchards added recently. “We have not had a lot of rain. People want huge peaches but they are not nearly as tasty and sweet as your medium-sized peach.”

Hinnant says dry weather during the swelling periods of the peach has kept the crop small, but recent rains and forecasts for more rain could help enlarge the fruit.

The improvement in the peach crop is welcome news to Hinnant. The family began farming the crop about 30 years ago when they saw decreasing profitability in wheat, soybeans and corn.

It was then that they began a “pick-your-own” operation consisting of a 75-acre peach orchard. Financial and planting difficulties over the years have seen the orchard’s acreage decline to about 35.

Today the family still sells peaches — about $12 a basket if self-picked, $15 if picked by others — at its Highway 6 roadside stand near Eutawville.

“We do go by the market prices,” Hinnant said, adding the peach cost is something the farm has tried to keep stable over the years. “We have not made anything on them all these years.”

Further down the road at St. Julien Plantation, owner Robert Norris says the 25-acre “you pick and we pick operation” is providing customers a good peach crop of Freestone and Alberta peaches.

“We have had a good peach crop with peaches finally getting some size to it,” Norris said, with obvious joy about recent rains. “We finally got some rain and could use some more. It has been a heavy fruit set.”

Norris said the 2006 peach crop benefited from enough chilling hours in the winter months and enough moisture in the fall to set the stage for the crop.

“The taste has been real sweet,” Norris said. “With the hot days it makes a superior sweet-tasting peach.”

Prices are $12 for a half a bushel and $18 for a basket.

In addition to peaches, Norris says the plantation is currently selling tomatoes, okra and watermelons.

n T&D Staff Writer Gene Zaleski can be reached at gzaleski@timesanddemocrat.com and 803-533-5551. To comment on this and other stories, visit TheTandD.com.

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