GUILFORD -- Last year's debacle looks to be this year's pick.
After a devastating deep freeze in February of 2016 that killed much of the peach crop last year, Connecticut farms are now seeing the results of a comeback.
"We made it through the winter with no deep freeze, so, low and behold, it's peach season," said Sarah Bishop DellaVentura, from Bishop's Orchards in Guilford. DellaVentura noted that most farms across the state lost their entire peach crop due to the buds freezing, while at Bishop's they lost about 60 percent of their peaches. "Farmers across New England called it the Valentine's Massacre of 2016," she said. "For every peach you pick, that's a dollar a peach for us...it's a lot of money to lose."
Bishop's Orchards, a Guilford landmark, is enjoying a rebirth this summer as crop workers scurried across the grounds to fill tractor beds with the first peach harvest of the season. "I think we all deserve a good peach season," DellaVentura said. "We're happy -- so far, so good."
Bishop's Orchards will begin their annual "pick your own" peaches in about two weeks.