This month of July has just about reached the halfway mark on the calendar. It’s been a somewhat wet month so far and hot. Both of these factors pose significant challenges for growing peaches. These weather conditions impact the quality of the fruit and also the trees.
Fungal diseases thrive in hot and humid weather conditions. Fungal diseases like brown rot and peach scab spread rapidly. Brown rot infests the fruit at all stages and affects fruit quality and reduces the yield significantly. Control of brown rot is difficult without regular fungicide applications.
Excessive rain can cause peaches to absorb too much water, diluting the sugar content and making them less flavorful. Besides affecting flavor, too much water can lead to fruit cracking and splitting. Fruit that splits can be damaged by fungal infections as well as pests (bugs). It is a misnomer to think that more water creates bigger and better fruit. Drier weather conditions actually create better tasting peaches.
High temperatures cause peaches to sometimes ripen prematurely leading to poorer texture and reduced storage life. A shorter development period also limits the time for fruit to accumulate carbohydrates resulting in sometimes a smaller fruit. Trees get stressed in hot temperatures thus becoming more vulnerable to pests and diseases.
Harvesting is a real challenge in overly wet and hot weather conditions. Peaches have a narrow window for harvesting and wet conditions hinder the picking process. We “spot pick” our peaches. That is we pick fruit daily as the peaches ripen versus “clearing off” and picking everything on the trees. It is hard to pick peaches in the rain.
The next question that most consumers have is if the peach is freestone or cling. Peaches are classified as cling stone, semi-cling and freestone. Cling peaches are the type where the fruit is woven into the pit. Freestone are those peaches where the pit separates from the flesh. Semi-cling are in-between where the flesh is attached but not wholly embedded into the pit.
Early season peaches are usually “clings.” Cling peaches are often smaller in size, juicier and sometimes sweeter. Usually more firm in texture, cling peaches are a good choice for home canning and making jams and jellies. Many commercial processors use cling peaches for canning. For those who prefer not to pry out or cut around the pit, cling peaches are delicious eating out of hand.
Freestone peaches are harvested later in the season. Freestones are the easiest to deal with as when it is cut the pit comes right out. Sometimes though, a freestone peach is not a “freestone” until it is completely ripe. The flesh does not grow into the stone but the stone sticks a little and is a little difficult to remove.
Semi-cling peach varieties are not seen very often at the markets. They’re a hybrid of cling and freestone peach varieties. They typically are sweet but with relatively easy-to-remove pits.
Because peaches are seasonal and not good for long term storage, consumers look forward to local peach season. Lots of challenges for us this year but we’re starting to harvest and looking forward to another peach season.