In China, the peach was said to be consumed by the immortals due to its mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. The divinity Yu Huang, also called the Jade Emperor, and his mother Xi Wangmu, also known as Queen Mother of the West, ensured the gods’ everlasting existence by feeding them the peaches of immortality. The immortals residing in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant banquet called the Pantao Hui or “The Feast of Peaches”. The immortals waited six thousand years before gathering for this magnificent feast; the peach tree put forth leaves once every thousand years and it required another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen. Ivory statues depicting Xi Wangmu’s attendants often held three peaches.

The Persians brought the peach West from its native China, where it had been favored by kings and emperors as far back as the tenth century. They traveled the Silk Road to the Mediterranean before Christian times and passed it on to the Romans.  Romans disseminated peaches throughout Europe, and Spanish explorers then brought them to America in the sixteenth century. 

Although Thomas Jefferson had peach trees in his gardens at Monticello, Americans didn’t begin growing peaches commercially until the nineteenth century.  Today, our home state of California grows 65% of the peaches in the United States.  We’re proud to offer some of the best, most succulent of those in our Mojamix.  Velvety, delicately scented, luscious, and high in fiber and vitamin C, peaches nourish the body and the imagination.  Tempt yours!