GENTRY -- Taylor's Orchard in Gentry opened Friday and some of the earliest varieties of peaches are ready for picking or for purchase at the orchard's fruit stand. Customers may buy peaches and nectarines by the bucket or the flat at the fruit stand, or they may go out into the orchard and pick their own.

Everything, it seems, blossomed early this year and some late cold weather threatened the peach and nectarine crops. But, even though he may not have as much fruit on the trees as in some years, Bill Taylor, the orchard's owner and caretaker, does have fruit and was selling buckets of peaches from his cooler and had numerous visitors out in the orchard picking peaches on Friday morning.

The Derby and Early Redhaven peaches are ready and were selling fast, but the orchard has 12 varieties of peaches and nectarines and Taylor expects to have ripe fruit on hand throughout most of the summer.

Other varieties, along with approximate ready dates, include Durbin Nectarine, July 1; Redhaven, July 11; Cumberland Sweet and Reliance, July 18; Topaz, Aug. 1; Carolina Belle and Carogem, Aug. 3; Redgold Nectarine and Glohaven, Aug. 5; Canadian Harmony, Aug. 7; Cresthaven, Aug. 15; Redskin, Aug. 20; and Flame Prince, Sept. 10.

The orchard's Blackberries should be ready for picking in July as well, Taylor said. The berries are usually ready about the first week in July and the bushes are filled with green and red berries this year, so the berry picking should be great.

The freestone varieties of peaches, a favorite for canning, should be ready by mid-July, according to Carol Williams, who was operating the fruit stand on Friday.

Taylor's Orchard is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, but is closed on Sunday. The orchard is located at 12801 Taylor Orchard Road (on the southwest edge of Gentry on Taylor Orchard Road at the corner of Marion Lee Road), and signs mark the way from Gentry and Siloam Springs.

From the intersection of Arkansas Highways 12 and 59, take Highway 12 west to Pioneer Lane or to Crowder Avenue south, to SWEPCO Road west, to Taylor Orchard Road south. Turn west on Marion Lee Road, and you'll see the sign at the corner of Marion Lee and Taylor Orchard Roads. All the roads are paved until you reach the orchard.

Whether going out and picking your own in the well-kept and mowed orchard or buying fresh-picked fruit at the stand, visitors can, as usual, expect an abundance of sweet results when they visit Taylor's Orchard. For more information, call Taylor's Orchard at 479-736-2004.