Since I will be away this weekend, thought I go on and post about peaches for National Eat A Peach Day.
The peach originated in China and has been cultivated for 1000s of years. The peach tree is considered the tree of life and peaches are symbols of immortality and unity.
Peaches traveled to Persia and were discovered by Alexander the Great. Greek and Romans enjoyed them. The Romans cultivated them and transported them North to other European countries in their Empire.
Spaniards brought them to South America. The French brought them to Louisiana. The English brought them to Jamestown.
Columbus brought them to America on his 2nd and 3rd voyages.
However when I eat a peach I always think of Georgie Peaches. Peaches were originally planted in St. Augustine in the 1500s.. Franciscan Monks then took them to St Simon and Cumberland Islands off Georgia . By the mid-1770s Cherokee Indians were cultivating them in Georgia.
Raphael Moses, a Georgia planter, of Columbus, Georgia started to market peaches . He is credited with being the first to ship and sell peaches to markets outside of Georgia. The first Georgia peaches were shipped to New York between 1858 and 1860.
Georgia earned the "peach state" designation during the three decades after the Civil War.
Have a peach on National Peach Day, August 22.
Information from:
http://gapeaches.org/about-us/rich-history-of-ga-peach/