North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>]

> On Mar 31, 2019, at 1:08 PM, Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Probably Paul Friday's varieties would perform relatively well there, but
> growing peaches organically is pretty his and miss and often the older
> varieties are more resistant to brown rot, which can make organic growing
> close to impossible for peaches.
> 
> The Harrow Station varieties are often evaluated for BR resistance and a
> good one that is highly flavored and produces large fruit is Harcrest.
> 
> Madison is another variety that is relatively winter hardy and resistant.
> 
> Of course, if you have a lot of cloudy weather leading up to ripening
> peaches can be bland.  Then the higher brix varieties can show their
> advantage.  For me that includes several nectarine varieties, but organic
> growers probably shouldn't bother with nects.
> 
> Some good ones, in sequence of ripening are Rich May (gives me flavorful
> but very small peaches in late June often before BR is a problem), Early
> Star, Red Haven (which you know), Ernie's Choice, Veteran, PF 27 and 28,
> Encore.   If your season is long enough, Victoria provides me peaches in S.
> NY into Oct, ant they are pretty good.  Another late and very unique white
> peach is Indian Free.  Very late peaches are also less susceptible to BR, I
> think.

Thanks, Alan. That looks useful.

How small is Rich May? Do you think they're big enough to sell at market? 

Redhaven has indeed done relatively well for me. And you're also right that 
nectarines are a real problem for organic growers; that peach fuzz is 
protective, and organic fruit needs the protection. I had some nectarines 
many years ago, but took them out as all they were doing was spreading brown 
rot to everything else.

I had some Harcrest years ago, but it didn't produce as good flavor for me as 
either Redhaven or Redskin. I wonder whether flavor on tree fruit is as 
variable by location as it is with tomatoes?



-- Rivka; Finger Lakes NY, Zone 6A now I think
Fresh-market organic produce, small scale