Welcome to this resource for Georgia peach background, health information, recipe ideas and more.

Nothing else tastes like a Georgia peach. Its deliciously juicy, sweet flavor is unique, but, at the same time, incredibly versatile.

Today, over 40 different varieties of peaches are grown statewide. Each year, Georgia produces over 130 million pounds of peaches, the official state fruit, between mid-May and mid-August. Bookmark this site, and be sure to ask your grocer for genuine sweet Georgia peaches.

Georgia Peach History

It wasn't until after the Spanish exploration of the new world that peaches really began to make their mark. The first colonial settlers in Virginia found the magnificent trees growing wild as a result of Spanish introduction. During the 1700s, settlers planted the first peach trees in the state. The science of a peach became a fascination in the early 1800s when peaches were first grown commercially. S.H. Rumph of Marshallville, Georgia, known as the “father of the industry,” systematically bred the Elberta peach from the seed of a Chinese Cling peach in 1879. The peach industry took off, Georgia became known as the “peach state” and the rest is sweet and tasty history.

Georgia’s central region is the largest commercial peach-growing area, producing 100 million pounds of peaches annually. Home to about 1.6 million peach trees, the largest peach-growing counties in this region include Crawford, Houston, Macon, Monroe, Peach and Taylor. The southern region produces 30 million pounds of peaches annually and is concentrated in Brooks County. Today’s peach growers represent history and heritage spanning third, fourth and even fifth generations.