Commercial Fruit and Vegetable Growers

From St. Louis Metro East: With June comes pumpkin planting and peach harvest

image of two pumpkin seedlings emerged side by side on bare ground, each with two cotyledons and a small first true leaf.

In addition to peach harvesting in the southern part of the region of cultivars like ‘Glenglo’, ‘PF 5D Big’, and ‘Sentry’, sweet corn harvesting started the last full week of June in the St Louis Metro east.  Comparatively, the northern part of the region is harvesting peaches in the ‘PF 8 Ball’ maturity group. Black raspberries are in the final week of harvest. Early blackberries like ‘Natchez’ and ‘Ponca’ are in season now, as well as blueberries like ‘Bluecrop’ and ‘Blueray’.  Grapes and apples are sizing.  Asparagus harvesting is done and has moved to crops like yellow squash, cucumbers, peppers (hot and bell), cauliflower, greens, greenhouse tomatoes, and zucchini.  Sweet potatoes are in the ground as well as ongoing green bean and pumpkin planting. The last two weeks of June have been brutally hot and humid, pushing the heat index into the low 100s.  Unlike the northern third of Illinois, the southern 2/3 are showing no signs of drought. The St Louis Metro East still has good soil moisture, but some rain in the next week would be welcome.

Peach field day announced for August 20 

Eckert’s, at their Belleville Farm, will be hosting a field day Wednesday, August 20 from 10am to 12pm, focused on advances in peach production. Tour stops will include a SARE supported project evaluating peaches grown on various rootstocks and trained to a planar/two-dimensional system for usefulness in commercial production; a small peach rootstocks block including MP-29, Controller 6, and Krymsk 86; and also, a look at the California style leader system.  This program is free of charge, but online registration is requested by August 18 to give us an accurate head count for the included lunch.  If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this program, please contact Elizabeth Wahle at wahle@illinois.edu or 217-300-9541.

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Several wooden crates of peaches
Image of a rectangular wood slat bushel harvest crates filled with white-fleshed peaches. Photo credit: E. Wahle, Illinois Extension 2025.
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Quick Response (QR) Code to register for the peach field day on August 20, 2025
Quick Response (QR) Code to register for the peach field day on August 20, 2025