North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Dave Griffin" <griffingardens@earthlink.net>]

Extending the season is indeed a good thing and is the basis for the Paul Friday selections. His numbers are not the conventional cultivar numbers of other breeders but are time slots when peaches come ripe so that PF # 1 ripens before PF # 7 and that before PF # 24. A couple of years ago he stopped recomending PF # 7A for PF #7B (or the other way around?) There is not neccesarily any genetic relationship between 7A and 7B (the genetics is not disclosed), the only apparent connection is that they ripen in the same slot. From what I have heard he has been more succesful with retaining quality than most breeders who aim for extending season but all of his 3 or 4 selections that I have tried didn't survive -29 F and I lost them (same goes for the Stellar series) so I don't think he has been quite so successful retaining hardiness. I am getting trees of his 'PF # 24 C, Cold Hardy' for testing.

 

Dave

Central MN

zone 4a

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Dennis Norton

To: North American Fruit Explorers

Sent: 1/23/06 3:28:49 PM

Subject: Re: [NAFEX] grocery store peaches and nectarines

Ed,

 

I would agree with you on all points except one.  The more cultivars there are that ripen from July to September in the US, the more extended the peach season for US growers.  They can then have a season for 3 months instead of a few weeks just as we have with commercial apples.

 

Dennis Norton
Royal Oak Farm Orchard
http://www.royaloakfarmorchard.com

----- Original Message -----

From: Ribes60@aol.com

To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Sent: Monday, January 23, 2006 8:55 AM

Subject: Re: [NAFEX] grocery store peaches and nectarines

My opinion "for what it's worth". Fruit breeders produce cultivars primarily for commercial growers. They need to all ripen at the same time, all be about the same size, color and shape, they need to "look" good or have a great deal of eye appeal and yield high loads of fruit and withstand shipping without damage. Taste is one of the "lesser" characteristics sought.

 

There are few breeders that set out to find or produce a cultivar that is primarily for home growers. If one is produced it is usually one that did not meet the requirements of the commercial industry.

 

Home growers do not finance the breeding programs.

 

 

 

Ed Mashburn
Central PA
Zone 5A