Porter, Oklahoma has been known for its peaches for a long time. Mention Porter to almost anyone in the Tulsa area and the next word out of their mouth is usually “peaches.” So when our family moved here in 2024, planting peach trees felt less like a choice than an obligation to the place.
A young orchard in Porter peach country
Our orchard is young. The peach trees are still saplings, staked against the Oklahoma wind and watered through the summer heat. They won’t bear a real crop for a while yet, and we’re at peace with that. We’re planting trees we may be grandparents before we fully enjoy.
That’s an old idea. In the second book of the Georgics, Virgil writes at length about the planting and tending of trees, and about how slowly an orchard rewards the person who starts it. Farming has always asked people to work for a harvest they can’t yet see. Orchards just make the waiting easier to notice.
What we’re learning
We’re learning the way most new orchardists do, by watching. Which trees push out new growth first in spring. How our soil holds water after a storm, and how fast it dries out in August. Where the wind comes across the pasture hardest. Joel Salatin likes to say the best fertilizer is the farmer’s shadow, and an orchard is a good place to practice walking your land every day.
When will there be Porter & Prairie peaches?
Not yet. When our trees start to bear, our neighbors will hear about it first. The Porter Peaches page has a waitlist for our first peaches, and the Prairie Post will carry the news each week.
Until then, you can follow the orchard as it grows on our Orchard page. And if you’re in Porter for peaches this summer, our honor-system egg stand is just down the road, Monday through Saturday.