HILL COUNTRY PEACHES, APPLES & OTHER FRUIT

The Hill Country is well known for producing some of the best peaches available. The soil and climatic conditions are most favorable here for growing abundant, delicious peaches.

Most of the orchards are in the Fredericksburg area (Gillespie County) and in particular are concentrated in Stonewall, and Johnson City/Round Mountain area (Blanco County). Gillespie County produces 40% of all the peaches grown in the state of Texas. You can see many of the orchards
along the highways.

The peach season runs from mid-May through the first week of August in a normal year. Several orchards offer "pick-your-own", a fun and different outdoor activity for the family. When in season, visitors will find peach stands all along Hwy 281 and on Hwy 290 between Johnson City and Fredericksburg. These stands typically also offer a variety of fresh, locally grown produce and fruit.

The Stonewall area calls itself "The Peach Capital of Texas" and many refer to the excellent peaches grown there as "Stonewall" peaches.

The Hill Country Fruit Council produces a listing of its members in a brochure entitled Fredericksburg-Stonewall Peaches displayed on their website www.texaspeaches.com

An informative article on this subject is at Texas Escapes.

The Stonewall Peach JAMboree is held in mid-June each year to celebrate the bounty of local peaches. Activities include breakfast, rodeo, dance, races, peach eating contest, peach seed spitting contest, peach auction, peach queen coronation, and more. Info: 830-644-2735. www.stonewalltexas.com and see Hill Country Festivals for the June schedule.

Be sure to check out the detailed profile page in this Portal site for each town along the way to see their event calendar and more detail on fun things to do in the area.

There is a dedicated web site that focuses on the peaches in the Hill Country, and in particular those grown on the Pedernales Valley farms located between Johnson City and Fredericksburg. We won't duplicate their helpful information here. To reach this great site just click Peaches.

Don't overlook the growing reputation of the apple orchards in the Medina and Mason areas, known for producing succulent apples. See our profiles on Medina and Mason. Mason County has launched an annual apple festival held on Labor Day weekend. Mason has a July Apple Festival. See Hill Country Festivals. The South Llano area on Hwy 16 also has a commercial apple orchard operation.

And, this beautiful region is also well recognized for having excellent strawberries, blackberries and vegetables. Many of these farms have fruit stands and allow "pick-your-own" (PYO) as well, a fun, family-oriented outdoor experience. Enjoy!

Below is our list. Please note that many of these stands sell a variety of locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables in season, and some serve mouth-watering ice cream, cobbler, pies, breads, jams, jellies, etc. Some of these stands will box and ship your selection, which makes for nice gifts and easy transport if you don't have your own vehicle.

(We welcome submission of updates, additions, corrections & digital photos, without compensation.)

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EAST OF FREDERICKSBURG

CRENWELGE PEACHES: 830-997-4977; Fredericksburg, TX. Retail

BARILOCHE FARM: 830-990-9023; 10090 E Hwy 290, Fredericksburg, TX; www..com. Retail

BEHRENDS ORCHARD: 830-997-4420; 4 mi E of town on S side of US 290, Fredericksburg, TX; www..com. Retail & wholesale

BURG'S CORNER: 830-644-2604; US 290, Fredericksburg, TX. www.burgscorner.com. Retail & wholesale

DONALD ECKHARDT ORCHARD: 830-992-7113; 2.2 mi S of town, on Hwy 87, Fredericksburg, TX; www.hillcountrypeaches.com. Retail & wholesale

ENGEL ORCHARD: 830-997-3292; 9885 US 290, 8 mi E of town, Fredericksburg, TX; www..com. Retail

ENGEL FARMS: 830-990-0537; 9973 US 290, Fredericksburg, TX; www..com. Retail

ePEACH.COM: 830-990-0006; 6789 Hwy 290 E, Fredericksburg, TX; www..com.

GOLD ORCHARDS: 830-644-2890; US 290 (14 mi E of Fredericksburg), Stonewall, TX. Retail

MARK PREHN ORCHARD: 830-456-3400; 1653 Gellerman Ln (2 mi W of Stonewall), Fredericksburg, TX. Retail

PEDERNALES VALLEY FARMS & LYDELL'S STORE: 830-997-1982; 1607 E Main (across from Fort Martin Scott), Fredericksburg, TX; www..com. Retail & wholesale

ROCKY HILL ORCHARD: 830-997-6352; 279 Rocky Hill Ln, Fredericksburg, TX; www..com. Retail

STUDEBAKER FARM: 830-990-1109; US 290, 5 mi W of Stonewall at Blumenthal, Fredericksburg, TX; www..com. PYO, Retail

VOGEL ORCHARD: 12862 E US 290, Fredericksburg, TX; www.vogelorchard.com. Retail & wholesale

WAHL TREE RIPE PEACHES & VEGETABLES: 830-644-2299; 15371 US 290 E, Stonewall, TX. Retail

WOODS ORCHARD: 830-385-9442. Retail

ZENNER'S ORCHARD: 830-997-7445; FM 1631, Fredericksburg, TX. Retail & wholesale

SOUTH OF FREDERICKSBURG

ERNST MARKET: 830-997-2035; 3722 Hwy 16 S, Fredericksburg, TX. Retail

MARBURGER ORCHARD: 830-997-9433; US 87, 5 mi S of town, Fredericksburg, TX; www.marburgerorchard.com. PYO, Retail

BLANCO AREA

ENGEL'S FRESH FRUIT & VEGETABLES: 830-456-3438; US 281 (1 mi S of Blanco), Blanco, TX.

MCCALL CREEK FARMS MARKET: 830-833-0442; 4524 N US 281 (3.5 mi N of Blanco), TX. www.mccallcreekfarms.com. Retail