Season's best fruit on tap
Smith County growers thrive in their market

By LORI COPE | East Texas Edition

July 5, 2001 -- Before the peach juice dribbles down any chins or the blueberries' sweetness creates some smiles, East Texas growers have labored many months prior to the season's harvest.

Some of the season's best fruit is produced in East Texas. The production generates millions of dollars for the area's growers who sell their fruit at roadside stands, farmers' markets, "you pick, we pick" operations, or to a wholesaler.

Recently, the Smith County Extension Service hosted an event to spotlight area growers. Larry Reynolds' berry farm, and the peach farms of Darren Rozell and Joey Wiggins, were toured.

"Peaches are the number one crop in terms of acres and production here in Smith County," said Brian Triplett, county Extension agent. "The peach harvest started in late May. Early varieties include cling peaches which are available until around mid-June and the freestone varieties which will be available until the end of the season -- late July to early August."

"This has been a good year for peaches," said Darren Rozell, who has the largest peach farm in the county -- 4,000 trees made up of 36 varieties. During peak production, Rozell hires eight to 10 workers to gather the fruit from the trees. The workers take only the peaches that are ready to go, which means they pass through the orchard about every 10 days until the harvest is complete.

The harvesters start work at 6:15 a.m. and usually finish up around noon. "It's better to pick before it gets too hot," Rozell explained. "Sometimes we may even come back in the evenings when it's cooled off."

Rozell said he sells about 24,000 boxes of peaches a year, "mainly to wholesalers in Shreveport and Dallas. We've got this temporary stand near the house until we can get some people used to coming out here.

"But we still sell a lot at my dad's stand on Highway 64 West, by the (Tyler) airport. He's been there a long time," he added.

Rozell's dad, Orvice Rozell, has been in the peach-growing business for 25 years. He has 900 peach trees, plus 15 plum trees.

"He gets lots of customers at his stand because he's been there so many years," Rozell continued. "Plus he arranges the sales to wholesalers because he has so many contacts."

Five years ago Rozell started his orchard at his home on FM 724 near the New Harmony community.

"This is my second year of maximum production," he said. His trees are spaced 24-feet between each row and 20-feet within the row.

"That's about 100 trees to the acre," commented Joey Wiggins.

At Wiggins' operation, called Plantation Pines Peach Farm, there are 700 peach trees on seven acres. He and wife Charlotte do the majority of the work and sell their harvest at the farm which is a "you pick or we pick" operation.

He, like Rozell, sold cling peaches in May and is now getting great harvests of freestone peaches.

"We sell about 90 percent of our production here at the farm, and the other 10 percent at grocery stores," Wiggins said.

The freestone peaches are the best sellers, when compared against the cling peaches. Sold in baskets, the peaches are usually sold just shy of totally ripe.

"The ripe ones we sell at a discount," Mrs. Wiggins said. "But some people really want those. They want ones that will be dripping down their chins."

The Wiggins use a sorter/grader machine that conveys the peaches through a washer and fuzz remover. The conveyor ends at a spinning wheel which is surrounded by a bar that increases in height. The peaches are carried around until they can fit under the bar and roll into their appropriate bin.

One thing the Wiggins battle, as do other peach growers, is brown rot. The fungus is more prevalent in wet, humid times. "And East Texas is a humid area, so we are used to dealing with it," he related.

Fungicides are used to treat brown rot. "But it's an expense we try to avoid," Wiggins added.

Brown rot can spread virtually overnight, so prompt attention to the problem is necessary, even for backyard peach tree owners, related Smith County Extension's horticulture agent Keith Hansen.

Weather is another thing growers have to contend with. "You want good chilling hours in the winter, and you certainly don't want a late freeze," Wiggins said.

When it comes to blueberries and blackberries, Larry Reynolds said the "cool evenings really slows production down. This year we've had some crazy weather."

Reynolds is the new owner of Plantation Pines Berry Farm, adjacent to Wiggins' peach farm. He has 2,400 blueberry bushes on four acres from which he sells up to 3,000 pounds on most Saturdays. An average weekday sees about 800 to 1,000 pounds pass from grower to buyer.

"Our three-pound container and one-gallon container are our most popular sellers," said Reynolds.

Visitors to the farm can pick their own berries, or buy the fresh berries that were picked and packaged by farm employees.

Reynolds, who purchased the farm last July, also has 2,500 blackberry bushes (thorny and thornless) on four acres. He planted more bushes this year because "you don't want anything over 8-years-old. To cycle the crop, I don't go more than six years."

Another new addition to the farm are figs. "I added them last year and I was surprised that people liked them," he said.

Next year he plans to have strawberries and raspberries which he'll grow vertically on six-foot poles. "A lot of people don't want to have to bend over to pick," he said.

The new berry additions will be "expensive to kick off. They need a totally different irrigation system," said Reynolds, whose previous profession was in aerospace.

Tour groups of children find the farm a popular place to visit, with its picnic area and open spaces. Reynolds said he's had adults come up to him and relate they have been picking there for 15 years. "They came out here on one of these kid tours 15 years ago and they've been coming ever since."

The blackberries are winding up their harvest season, but the blueberry crop will be thriving throughout the month.

Plantation Pines is on (Smith) County Road 429, off of FM 2016. The peach and berry farms is located about 8/10 miles down CR 429.