We bought some terrific fresh peaches this week at Costco. Both buys were from California and grown by Kingsburg Orchards. They were Summer Flame variety, which turned out to large, sweet, freestone and ripe. The acid test is taste, of course, but to pick peaches the basic test is smell. If a peach does not smell like one, it will not taste like one, and once picked it will soften but will not ripen further. I can’t tell you how many peaches I have sniffed in a market with no peach smell.

If you have Costco around and like peaches, you might want to take a smell. They will not be around long.