North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark & Helen Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>]

Sherwin,

You don't have a Belle of Georgia because they are definitely a white
fleshed peach.  I hate to say it, but I suspect your neighbor is in some way
confused.  As far as I know, white or yellow peaches are genetic, not
environmentally controlled.  The big box stores are notorious for
mislabeling fruit trees. A box store sold me a supposed "White Princess"
peach, but it's yellow.  A neighbor bought a supposed Belle of Georgia (I
looked at the tag) but this spring I noticed it had showy blossoms and
Georgia Belles don't have showy blossoms.

I have a theory on why the box stores sell so many mislabeled trees.  It's
really quite simple.  The nurseries are far removed from the customers, so
there really aren't any negative consequences.  A lot of the people who buy
the trees from box stores don't take care of them, so they die anyway.
Lastly, how many average customers are going to be able to tell one variety
from the next.  The wholesale nurseries just want to get rid of trees, and
when they're dealing with the box stores, they're probably getting next to
nothing for their trees.  So when Wal-Mart(plug in your favorite box store)
orders 5000 Georgia Belles for their Midwest stores, my theory is the
nursery may only have 2000 Georgia Belles, but fills the rest of the order
with whatever they have.

By the way, I have a Belle of Georgia and it's white fleshed, not all that
colorful (compared to the high color varieties) about medium sized.  It
drops bad, and gets soft quick.  Don't fret because you don't have a Belle
of Georgia, they're not all that fantastic.  I like the flavor, but my wife
can't stand it.

Regarding picking, don't wait for the peaches to drop.  Generally a good
rule is to feel the blossom end of the peach.  If it gives a little when you
put some pressure on it, pick it.  At this point even if it's a little too
firm, it will ripen up on the counter and taste the same as if it were left
on the tree.  Some peaches left on the tree even a little too long, get
mushy, and definitely mushy if you wait for them to drop (not to mention
bruised).  Of course some varieties can be left on the tree longer than
others.

Mark
KS





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "sherwin dubren" >
To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, September 03, 2008 12:12 AM
Subject: [NAFEX] Do I have a white flesh peach?


> Last year, after doing a frustrating search for a Belle of Georgia Peach
> Tree,
> I spotted a nice looking grafted one at my local Home Depot.  I normally
> don't
> buy from the builder's store, but the price was right and the tree
> looked healthy.
> It started bearing fruit the very next year.  I was glad to see it was
> several weeks
> later than my Redhaven.  I'm just now beginning to see a dropped peach.
The
> Fruit, Nut, and Inventory book says you should leave these peaches on
> the tree
> until they drop for maximum ripeness.  The fallen peach looked clean,
> but when
> I opened it up, I saw a yellow color, almost identical to my Redhaven,
> yet this is
> supposed to be a white fleshed peach.  My concern is whether this tree
> is miss-
> labeled, although the grower had put a distinctive tag on the tree as a
> Belle of
> Georgia.  I called a friend of mine, who also grows this variety, and he
> said that
> this year his Belle of Georgia also was giving yellow flesh peaches.
> Question, is
> this a recognized phenomenon with white fleshed peaches, possibly due to
> some
> climatic effect here this year in the Chicago area, or do I have  a
> miss-labeled
> tree?
>
>            Sherwin Dubren
>            Morton Grove, Illinois


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