Esto was known for its peaches

By E.W. CARSWELL

ESTO has no Peachtree Street, but it came close for a few years in the 1960s and ’70s. Commercial peach orchards sprang up in the surrounding area after horticultural scientists at the Florida agricultural experiment stations developed peach varieties that appeared to be adaptable to the North Florida climate.

To be successful, however, a marketing facility was needed. That need led to the construction — with the help of a U.S. Farmers Home Administration loan — of the Esto Fruit and Vegetable Market. The facility was equipped with warehousing, refrigeration, grading, weighing and packaging equipment. Marketed and shipped from the facility, besides peaches, were watermelons, tomatoes, peas, beans, cucumbers, squash, collards, okra and a few plums.

Almost from the beginning, however, growers were unable to find adequate seasonal labor for producing and harvesting the crops, particularly peaches, which required cultivation, fertilizing, the application of insecticides and pesticides, and hand pruning, as well as harvesting.

Major growers included John W. Clark, Frank Thweatt, Doyle and U.T. Kirkland, Jesse Mills and Willis Hardy.

Fire destroyed the Esto market after a few years, and growers reduced their production level to that required to meet regional needs. Fortunately for those who continued, Northwest Florida and South Alabama communities continued to gain population, thus creating added demand for regionally produced fruit and vegetables. Esto area growers had proved that quality production could be achieved locally, if undertaken on a scale sufficient to attract needed labor.

And the Esto peach continued to find a favored place in regional produce shelves.