NC farmers celebrate Peach Day with sweet deals
Farmers and shoppers are celebrating one of North Carolina's most popular crops on Thursday -- peaches!
To celebrate Peach Day, the State Farmers' Market near Lake Wheeler Road in Raleigh is featuring some sweet deals. The N.C. Department of Agriculture will host Peach Day events starting at 11 a.m., including free peach ice cream samples, a peach dessert contest and visits with the "peach queen."
Officials say 90 percent of the peaches grown in North Carolina are sold fresh at fruit stands and farmers markets.
The peaches ripen on the tree just days before you can buy them, and farmers say that makes North Carolina peaches sweeter than commercial peaches.
North Carolina farmers grow more than two dozen varieties of peaches. In 2015, the state produced about 5,300 tons of the summer fruit, contributing millions of dollars to the state economy.
Peach season in North Carolina is short but sweet -- it usually runs through August.
