HOLLIS – The New Hampshire Fruit Growers Association recently announced that peaches have come early this year and are in abundance.

“After last season’s complete loss of our peaches we are excited for a plentiful crop this year,” said Lorna Hazelton of Hazelton Orchards in Chester. “We started picking about a week early and with a lot of watering, they are really sizing up nicely now. I’m not sure who’s more excited about seeing peaches; us or our customers.”

Last year, peach season left a lot to be desired with a cold snap wiping out nearly the entire peach crop in many of the state’s orchards. However, things have certainly turned around this year. Diane Souther of Apple Hill Farm in Concord reported the farm is having an “incredible peach season.”

“At Apple Hill Farm, we pick every other day to ensure that the consumer gets the best tree-ripened peach possible,” said Souther. “With numerous varieties, we always have another flavor to choose from. We have participated in a five-year planting of 32 different stone fruits with the New England states. It is a trial block and we have yellow fleshed and white fleshed, from regular round fruit to the Saturn-shaped donuts peaches as well as yellow and white nectarines. Each picking brings a fun experience to taste and compare.”

A list of local peach growers are as follows:

-Maple Gate Farm and Vineyard, 183 Amherst Rd. in Merrimack

-Sunnycrest Farm, 59 High Range Rd. in Londonderry

-Oliver Merrill & Sons, 569 Mammoth Rd. in Londonderry

-Mack’s Apples, 230 Mammoth Rd. in Londonderry

-Lull Farm, 65 Broad St. in Hollis

-Lavoie’s Farm, 172 Nartoff Rd. in Hollis

-Elwood Orchards, 54 Elwood Rd. in Londonderry

-Brookdale Fruit Farm, 41 Broad St. in Hollis