Dickey Farms

Musella, Georgia: population around 1,400. When Robert Dickey stands just outside his market, he can look across the street and see the family home, and right next to it, their church. It's a beautiful little town, and the setting sun casts a warm glow around the place as we sit down in rocking chairs to learn more about Dickey's famous peach orchard. Robert's son, Lee is the fifth generation of the peach growers, with the first peaches planted on the location in the 1890's. "This is a great area for growing peaches in Georgia, "Robert explains, "the location, the climate, the soil, it's been good to us." Dickey Farms remains a family affair, as do most peach farmers in Middle Georgia. "It's a challenge, keeping the traditions going and staying up with new innovations in farming at the same time, "says Lee, "but we love it, and being a part of this community."  

Dickey's commercially farms about 1,000 acres of peaches on the farm in a season that spans from mid-May to mid-August. There's a retail market on-site where visitors can purchase peaches, pecans, homemade ice cream and other treats. Dickey's also distributes products to outside retail locations, farmer's markets, and major grocery store chains up the East Coast and Midwest.  

Peaches are known to be a more challenging and delicate fruit to grow, but with so many decades of experience behind them, the Dickey family has it down. "All our trees are hand-pruned and the peaches are hand-picked, so a lot of dedication and hard work goes into it," Robert explains. "We have multiple varieties and we rotate so we're harvesting every day during the summer. After picking, the fruit gets cooled, graded, sized, and packed for distribution and sent out within about a day or so."  

Along with their booming peach business, agritourism is helping to bring a lot of attention- and new faces- to Dickey's. "That part has really been growing. We were one of the first farms to start promoting the farm as a place to visit, says Lee. "If you look back to the 60s or 70s, no individuals really went out and wanted to get fruit directly from the farm. These days there aren't roadside vendors as much anymore, everything's at the grocery store. And there's no real connection to the food, no experience of seeing it and learning about it. Guests really want to come to farm, meet the people who work here and make that connection." 

In the spring of 2018, Dickey's will grow and promote their strawberries for the first time, and guests will be able to pick their own. They can also enjoy fresh ice cream and family activities on the farm, and of course, do some shopping in the Dickey's store.  

"Fruits, vegetables, cotton, beef, chicken– the diversity of our commodities– that's really the strength of Georgia agriculture," says Robert. "And of course, there's nothing in the world like a Georgia peach."  

Learn more about Dickey Farms, and fill your online shopping cart at www.gapeaches.com.