Peach Harvest

 

We've decided that next year, after harvest, we're going to pull out our Red Haven Peach. We planted it because it was my dad's favorite peach and we had one growing up. Delicious, and typically huge, peaches. But, Red Haven requires 950 chilling hours (continuous temps between 34 and 48degrees) and tho we are supposed to get 1100/season....it just doesn't seem to get enough. That has always been an issue...and is getting worse. The peaches are good but small, no matter how many we cull (this year I estimated that we took off at least 80% of the fruit) ...and the tree is struggling. It is also in the shade of a rapidly growing Pistache tree. So we've decided to plant an Evas pride...which requires a paltry 200 chilling hours. We'll keep it in a half barrel for a year and let it get a bit of growth before we plant it into the yard....and move it a few feet from the shade of the big tree. Hoping to see an improvement in yield. Today, we cleaned the tree of peaches and were actually surprised at how big the harvest was. Some to share, some for the freezer, some for dinner, and the rest I'll think about tomorrow. They are not big...but DELICIOUS.