A Rough Winter Killed The Northeast's Peach Crop

Friends, Romans and fellow cooks, lend me your ears, for I have bad news to bear. If you live in the Northeast, get ready to head into a summer with one of the greatest local peach shortages of our time.

A warm spell in February, followed by two bitter cold snaps, damaged much of the region's peach trees, Modern Farmer reports. Experts estimate that 90 percent of the peach crop in New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island has been lost. New Jersey, which is the fourth largest peach producer in the country, lost approximately 40 percent of its peach crop. What's worse, the weather may have a future impact on young peach trees.

We, at Tasting Table, are in deep mourning over the news. After all, what is summer without a good peach?