My first peaches

[fritz_monroe]

I got my first peaches from the trees I planted about 5 years ago.  I only have 5 or 6 that look good.  I have probably 6 or 8 more that have various amounts of insect damage.  I'll just cut around the insect damage.   I have another tree that has a ton of peaches on it.  I went out today and took off about half of the peaches to allow the tree to put more resources into the peaches that are left.  I pulled off the really ugly looking peaches.

[theBINKYhunter]

Our peach tree at the last house was great. I did feel like it tried to grow to many so I would be out there thinning out the crop like you did to allow more room for the good ones. Birds were a major problem for me though and it was near impossible to manage them. Since we moved this summer I didn't put any effort into the tree and the crop was pretty pitiful, but I had other things to worry about. I'd love to plant another one at the new place but I think I'm going to try and find something that I can't get easily at the store.

[Cedar]

Because of you guys today, I ended up buying two peach trees for SP when I went to Home Depot for the second time today. With the 50% off, and JD's Vet discount, I got them for $13 each and they look to be 3 year old trees. Some had fruit on them. They are actually the first peach trees I have actually owned. I actually could not believe I bought not one, but two fruit trees, but I did as they are like 12-15 feet tall, and I need shade next summer. My grafted trees I did the last two years are not even to my shoulder height yet. These ones I will weight a couple of the branches to get them the direction I want to encourage them to go in.

SP is happy she owns peach trees, and liked her gift. She is the proud owner of 7 Weeping Willows she made from cuttings this year, and the 2 peach trees. I am being an enabler 

• Late Suncrest: A peach with a long history of great juicy flavor and pretty red color. Grown in Colorado for years, this peach is a flavor mainstay of their industry. This is the peach David Mas Masumoto wrote about in his book 'Epitaph for a Peach', except that in Colorado this peach develops such nice color that you wouldn’t know it was the same peach as the California Suncrest. Similar in sweetness to Roza, Suncrest has a bit lower acid resulting in a less tangy taste.  Suncrest is a freestone peach.  Ripens in late August or early September.
  
  
• Starfire: A sweet, red colored, yellow fleshed peach that picks in the earlier season.  Ripening simultaneously with Newhavens, Starfire is a good sized, nice flavored peach.  Developed at the Fruit Acres breeding program in Michigan – all their peaches have “star” in the name.  Picks in mid-August.

Did you know there are over 300 varieties of peaches in the USA?

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I thought I posted something previously asking you what varieties yours were fritz, but apparently it did not send. Make sure to burn the bad looking ones. Also rake up and burn all leaves, now and in the fall.

Cedar

[fritz_monroe]

I was thinking I had more peach trees, but looks like I just have 2.  Both planted from bare root in early Spring 2013.

Starkling Delicious: Why wait to enjoy a delicious peach? Grow a strong, vigorous tree and large Elberta-type peaches that are ripe two weeks earlier than other Elbertas. Tree exhibits bud-hardiness to resist frost. Fruit has a sweet flesh and firm skin that slips off easily – perfect for canning and freezing. Originates from Dover, Arkansas, introduced by Stark Bro’s in 1949. Freestone. Ripens in mid July. Self-pollinating.

Burbank July Elberta: A popular, all-purpose peach! Developed by master plant breeder Luther Burbank, this variety is a peach-lover’s dream. Tree adds beauty to your landscape with clouds of fragrant, deep-pink blossoms in spring. In summer, fruit develops with a bright-red skin and sweet, golden-yellow flesh. Features the smallest pit-to-fruit ratio of any peach we offer. Developed in Santa Rosa, California, introduced in 1930s. Heat-tolerant. Freestone. Ripens in late July. Self-pollinating.

Delicious ripens mid-July, July Elberta ripens late July.  Last year I had 1 peach develop on the Delicious tree, but something got it, probably a squirrel.   This year I ended up with 6 "pretty" peaches off the Delicious tree and 12 or 16 ugly ones that I had to cut around bad spots and insect damage. 

I listen to the You Bet Your Garden podcast and the host recommends taking half the peaches off the tree so it can devote more energy to the ones that are left on.  I took probably 50 off the July Elberta.

[theBINKYhunter]

Man what a deal Cedar. I think I paid $150 for mine when I got it, and it was a 3 or 4 year tree. Sadly they don't sell peach trees at HD here and I had to go to a nursery. The price tag is a huge deterrent for what I'm considering getting for the new place.

[Cedar]

I must have been tired last night with so many redundant words in that last post.

A single peach tree can give you on average 150# of fruit, so two will give you nearly 100 quarts of canned peaches if you look at it that way. You probably don't need more than two.

Yes, that is why I couldn't pass up buying them at that price. They start at $40 and up here. $13 was justifiable in buying them.

Cedar

[mountainmoma]

I adore peaches, so I am jealous of you both ! My attempts have ended up with dead trees sooner (donut peach my dd wanted when she was younger) or later, the dying double delight nectarine by the garden.

This land has realy, realy bad peach leaf curl. It was already here when I moved in. And, I am NOT an attentive fruit tree owner, probably never will be. My trees get sporadic water ( and it doesnt rain here for 7 months in a row) and I don spray any of them !

I actually like apricots even more, but sporadic spring weather makes it so we dont have a crop every year. When I have the garden back together, I am going to try a few varieties of apricots, we had an aprium once that did quite well until it was shaded out by an oak. 

[Cedar]

See it is a trade-off, we can't grow apricots here in the Willamette valley.

Cedar

[fritz_monroe]

I actually like apricots even more

Ick, really???  The only apricots I like are dried.  Apricots have a slightly different texture that is not appealing to me.

[mountainmoma]

See it is a trade-off, we can't grow apricots here in the Willamette valley.

Cedar

The apricots grow well over the hill, what is now paved over and traffic used to be all apricots. But, up here on the mountain, cant get a crop most years. So,not something to depend on. the commercial crops right where I am on the mountain used to be wine grapes and apples, pre-car transport even. Not now. Now it is houses. reliable fruit at my property is blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, grapes, apples, persimmon.

I like dried apricots, for sure. And, canned peaches.