When August hits, Ontario starts to really flex its agricultural abilities. We’re treated to fragrant vine-ripened tomatoes, glossy ears of sweet corn and most vibrant of all: velvety, juice-spilling peaches.
“Peach season to me is the most perfect expression of summer,” said Joel Gray, chef and co-founder of Down Home Restaurant, a farmhouse dining destination in Grey County. “There is no better feeling than biting into that perfectly ripe, juicy, refreshing peach on a beautiful summer day.”
Ontario peaches typically ripen and fill greengrocer shelves between late July and late September. They’re divided into two categories: freestone (with a pit that falls out of the fruit with ease), and semi-freestone — sturdier peaches best eaten with your hands. Within those are more specific varieties, such as Harrow Diamond (big and blushing red), Loring (large and yellow-fleshed), and donut peaches (rather flat, with the stem creating a divot in the centre). “The Garnet Beauty is my favourite — classic, juicy and sweet,” said Gray.
The best thing about peach season is there are so many ways to enjoy the fruit. You can grill them, roast them, bake them into desserts, add them to a salad.
You can also drink peaches — in locally made fruity beers, creative cocktails or even an all-Ontario peach wine. You can take a day trip to Niagara and pick them right off the tree, or roll up to a Toronto restaurant and try a peach-topped pizza.
Ready to make the most out of peach season? Here’s how.
Take a peachy day trip
Visit a peach festival
Peaches are the stars of the Winona Peach Festival, held Aug. 28 to 30 near Stoney Creek, on the outskirts of Hamilton. They’re turned into peach donuts, jams and jellies, biscotti and barbecue sauce, served with crepes and ice cream, and with nachos as peach salsa. Come for the fruit, stay for the midway, live music and shopping stands.
Pick your own at an orchard
Play farmer for the day and pick your own peaches. A stone’s throw from Lake Erie, Pardo’s Berrie Farm specializes in plump peaches and ruby strawberries. For $8, Cherry Avenue Farms in Vineland will let you fill a two-litre basket of peaches. Bridgman’s Farm is a 200-year-old farm in Winona that accepts visitors by appointment.
Pick and sip at a winery
Dandor Estate Winery pulls double duty as a winery and an orchard (peaches and nectarines are their specialty). Guests can stop by, head out into the orchards to fill baskets with peaches, then come back to taste through a range of summer wines (including a peach-perfect rosé).
“When the fruit is ready, the property comes alive with vibrant colours, the fragrance of ripe peaches and the simple pleasure of walking through the rows,” says Karin Jurgens, Dandor’s events manager.
“Seeing families enjoy that experience together is the highlight of the season. Children discover where fresh fruit comes from, while many adults are reminded of summers spent picking peaches with their own families. It’s a tradition we’re proud to share.”
Stock up at a country market
If you don’t have time to head out into the orchards, stop by Walkers Country Market, a fifth-generation farm shop. Fresh Niagara fruit is sold in abundance, but also turned into baked goods: handmade pies, jams, jellies, preserves, tarts and peach-blueberry muffins.
The Quiet Acres farm stand at the first-generation MacSween Farms in Niagara-on-the-Lake is always packed with peaches, but also gladiolus and sunflowers. “I love our Redhaven peaches,” says farmer Caroline MacSween.
Catch Toronto’s peachy treats
Across the city, chefs make the most of the province’s peaches by heroing them up into limited-edition treats: buttery pies, special cakes, fruity ice creams and innovative plated desserts.
Wanda’s Pie in the Sky’s peach pie
This Kensington staple turns out not only Niagara peach pie (also available in vegan or gluten-free versions) but a layered peach melba with butter-almond crumble and juicy-crunchy peach pralines.
Bobbette and Belle’s peaches and cream cake
When peach season kicks off, both locations of Bobbette and Belle (in Leslieville and Yonge and Lawrence) get baking. The result is one not-to-be-missed peaches and cream cake, filled with Ontario peach compote and topped with peach puree, crunchy meringue and fuzzy peach candies.
Brodflour’s peach danish
If this Liberty Village bakery’s viral sticky toffee danish wasn’t enough of a reason to line up, their August special peach danish should be. Its flaky crust is topped with an almond crumble, peach jam, poached peaches and a pillow of honey-mascarpone cream.
Drink your peaches
Bar Allegro’s peaches & cream
This peachy-keen cocktail at Little Italy’s Bar Allegro channels all the childhood flavours of a peaches-and-cream dessert, thanks to a blend of tequila, elderflower liqueur, Aperol, peach aperitif and clarified yogurt. Its garnish? A slice of Niagara peach.
Exchange Brewery’s Spontaneous Ale
This Ontario ale is aged in red-wine barrels for 30 months before peaches are added for a secondary fermentation, which gives the brew a juicy, fruity texture.
Konzelmann Estate Peach Wine
This Niagara winery started as a peach orchard. In homage, they still make a wine out of ripe peaches — crisp, light and ultra-fruity.
Restaurant specials
Right now, chefs are delighting in cooking with peaches, adding them to savoury and sweet dishes alike.
Beast’s peach pizza
What, you’ve never had peach on a pizza? Here’s your chance: Beast Pizza on Tecumseth Street makes a pizza pie with red sauce, mozzarella, soppressata and onions with a roasted peach ricotta and a peach hot sauce.
Curryish Tavern’s chaat masala peaches
In a fiesta of flavours, Curryish Tavern on Queen West tops its pani puri with yellowfin tuna with chaat masala peaches.
Takja BBQ’s peach bingsoo
High-end Korean grill house Takja BBQ serves a peaches-and-cream bingsoo, a stacked-high shaved ice dessert stuffed with mascarpone and topped with a streusel crunch.
Preparing peaches at home
At home, grill fresh peaches and plate them over burrata. Slice up the peaches and pile them onto a banh mi. Make peach salsa and spoon it over shrimp tacos.
“I love them fresh for breakfast, or in a little farm tomato and peach salad for lunch,” said Gray. “Peaches over the grill with a lovely smoked pork chop is great.”
You might also think ahead to the colder months: “Preserve and ferment them, so in the winter you can enjoy peaches when there’s four feet of snow.”
