Sunday, August 9, 2009

Peaches Start to Finish

DSC_0248_143

January 2009 – Bare root tree stock planted for espalier line.  There were no expectations in 2009 to have fruit produced by the very young trees.

DSC_0147_079 O’Henry Peach is a yellow, old-fashioned, sweet peach.  It’s a freestone that is large, firm, and with a full red skin.

DSC_0413_286

March 2009 – The pink buds begin to open.  All types of insects descended into the garden.  Maybe they were already there but finally woke up or hatched.DSC_0472_499

Ladybugs joined in by feasting on all the “bad” bugs.  Go girls!

DSC_0512_535

April 2009 – The tiny fruit was hanging on and growing rather than dropping from  the young tree.  Fruit did not hold on the plums, nectarines, or apricots.  The pears did not have any fruit.  The apples were the only other trees to hang on to the fruit.

DSC_0637_861

May 2009 – Five peaches looked like they were going to hang on into the summer.  When the temperatures began to rise, they began to blush.

DSC_1070_1282

June 2009 – A garden fence had been constructed on the north side of the espalier line.  It was painted without losing any of the precious crop. 

Nothing notable occurred in July 2009 regarding the peach tree.

DSC_1401_1612

August 2009 – Blasted birds started to sample the fruit.  It was time to act quickly.  The fruit felt firm but soft.  This indicated that they may be perfect to harvest.

DSC_1477_1690

DSC_0512_535

 

 

 

 

                 Before                                            After

DSC_1484_1692 The birds received 1/5 of the crop (1 peach).  They were delicious.  O’Henry Peach grafted on Citation Hybrid rootstock (dwarf) by the Dave Wilson Nursery in Reedley, California, is highly recommended for production in California’s Central Valley.  They are noted for being strong, vigorous, heavy bearing trees.  The fruit is supposed to be excellent for freezing.  We’ll see if we can make it that far next year.

Don’t forget to vote.

5 comments:

Lisa Paul said...

Bravo on your peach crop. We got one. But we did find that those mylar streamers and netting kept the birds away. We just didn't water and fertilize enough for a crop this year.

MAYBELLINE said...

Dr. Earth fertilizer and deep root irrigation pipes.

Rowena said...

So nice to see that you were able to get a few peaches off of yours. We have a fair amount of stunted ones on the tree, and they won't go much further after having had their tree host treated with fungicide for peach leaf curl.

Maybe better luck next year for us.

Anonymous said...

Those peaches look delicious!

MAYBELLINE said...

Oh, they were.