Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

As the summer heat rolls into Chilton County, the most important time for many in the county is upon us. Peach season.

I quickly realized that peach season in Chilton County is a special time last year. I started in February 2022, and by the time May got here I realized that peaches here were not show fruit on signs across the county. They are the most essential thing this county has, and hundreds of people each peach season depend on the crop to continue living their lives to the fullest.

In North Carolina, we have crops that are important like tobacco and corn, but nothing to the point of importance as peaches here in Chilton County. It is amazing to me how important a single crop can be to all of these small communities here. The peach festival goes to show how vast the stretch of Chilton County peaches is and how many people from not only Chilton County, but from miles away, travel here to get their hands on arguably the best peaches in the country.

The peach festival is approaching fast as well with under a month to go until all the festivities begin. While the heat can be tough to combat, I really enjoy getting to see and document all of the events associated with the peach festival. The peach run, the auction and the jubilee itself all bring great vibes and rally around the fruit that it is celebrating.

Aside from the joy and commodore the peach festival brings, there have been rumblings of the crop being not as vast this year. This can be due to a number of things that are completely out of the farmers control. If, and that is a big if with no solid numbers projected yet, the yield is lower I encourage everyone to still show up and support the farmers who worked tireless hours to produce the best crop they could this year. In a time of need the Chilton County community is what will help them overcome a down year, if there is one.

In the end, I feel like that has helped every problem I have encountered since being here. The communities of Chilton County rallying together around things they love, and peaches are among those things that are thoroughly loved.