Palisade Peaches Really That Good?

This is my first full season of Palisade Peach madness. How do I know I'm really buying the true Palisade variety and are they really that much better?

The best comparison I can make to really knowing is homegrown tomatoes.

Back home in Missouri, you wanted to make sure the tomatoes you snagged at the local farmers market weren't trucked in from somewhere else. I've grown them for years so I knew what to look for. If they're too pretty, they're not the garden variety.

Every year about mid-June, a full month before local tomatoes were ready, some joker would setup shop on a corner selling "homegrown tomatoes." Knowing by that time everyone is jonesing for some.

They would be from Arkansas or more likely other regions further south. Hardly local and hardly as good.

So when I rolled up to a local stand here in Grand Junction, I was skeptical. I know they're running ahead of schedule this year. Are these really from Palisade? I know the name is trademarked but that's hardly a guarantee.

Especially with a sign wrote in Sharpie and duct taped to a pop-up tent.

As I quizzed the guy, he went on to tell me the whole story of "warm days and cool nights" that make for the perfect peach growing environment. He went on to say, "that causes more sugar to be released inside the peach and makes them extra sweet."

I hadn't heard that one before. "Same holds true for the sweet corn over in Olathe," that one either.

These peaches were pretty pricey. A box for $40? I could never eat a box full before they'd all go bad but that was the best price point. Still seemed high to me. What do I know? I'm not from here.

The only way to know if they're really as good as advertised was to buy a few and give them a try. So I did.

I realize there's something to all of this. There's the Palisade Peach Festival that's celebrating its 49th year for crying out loud.

Now, how's the best way to enjoy them? Sliced over a bowl of vanilla ice cream? I'm certainly not going to attempt a cobbler or anything like that. So, does anyone have a good peach margarita recipe?