The History of Peaches in Vernon

August 24 is National Peach Pie Day, arriving just as peach season reaches its height in the Okanagan Valley. The history of the peach stretches back thousands of years. First cultivated in China more than two millennia ago, peaches spread westward along ancient trade routes to Persia (modern-day Iran). From there, they traveled to Europe, where Spanish explorers carried the fruit to North America in the 1500s. By the late 19th century, peach trees were being planted in Canada, and the Okanagan soon became one of the regions to attempt their cultivation.

Peaches reached the southern Okanagan Valley in the 1890s and were soon introduced to Vernon through the Coldstream Ranch. At the time, their higher water requirements made them more challenging to establish compared to native fruits. Nevertheless, experiments were undertaken by Lord and Lady Aberdeen, who had purchased the ranch in 1892. That same year, they planted 150 peach trees at both Coldstream and their second property, Guisachan, in Kelowna. The chosen varieties—Alexander, Mountain Rose, and Early Crawford—represented some of the earliest attempts at peach production in this part of the Valley. While waiting for the orchards to mature, hops were relied upon as a source of income.

The Aberdeens also invested in infrastructure to support fruit growing in Vernon. In 1893, contractors Cameron & Milne began building a two-storey jam factory on Mason (now 28^th) Street at a cost of $3,000. Lord Aberdeen hired O.W.F. Krauss, who had trained in Berlin, to manage operations. Despite these efforts, the factory never processed fruit and stood as an unrealized ambition of the early industry.

Apples, in contrast, adapted readily to the region’s conditions. By 1905, the Coldstream Ranch’s 250-acre orchard was yielding approximately one million pounds of apples annually. Peaches did not fare as well. The First World War disrupted orchard management, as many men were called overseas and irrigation, pruning, and thinning were often neglected. Harsh winters compounded the difficulty, with cold snaps destroying large numbers of trees.

Studies in the mid-1950s show just how fragile the industry was in Vernon. Between 1945 and 1955, only 7 percent of peach trees in the area survived the decade, while orchards in Armstrong experienced even higher losses. In 1950 alone, one particularly cold winter killed a quarter of Vernon’s peach trees. By contrast, growers in the southern Okanagan experienced more consistent success, thanks to the region’s warmer climate.

Although the local peach industry never rivaled that of apples, rising temperatures in later decades and improved access to fruit grown elsewhere in the Valley meant peaches became increasingly available in Vernon. Even so, the crop remains vulnerable. The cold winters of recent years serve as a reminder that peaches, despite their long history and popularity, continue to be at risk in the northern Okanagan.

Yet each summer, when local peaches return to market stands and kitchens, they stand as proof of both the fruit’s resilience and the determination of growers who have worked to keep this delicate crop a part of the Okanagan harvest.

Archives Manager, Gwyneth Evans