Location: NE Wisconsin Zone 4 to 5
In 1999 I planted a Red Haven Peach from Henry Fields. It was such a
nice looking tree that I thought I would try their other ones. In 2000
ordered a Haley's Haven and a Wisconsin Balmer. Both were nice and sturdy
trees and took off nicely.
In 2002 had a light crop on them but a late spring frost did not help for
any crop so thinning was not necessary. There were not too many but they
were big and any home grown tasted good so did not pay particular attention
to taste differences. Lady bugs helped eat a good portion of what grew.
Noticed that the Balmer was later than the rest and so suffered more lady
bug damage.
In 2003 all three trees set a heavy crop and thinning was necessary to
get them down to anywhere near what you should have on any tree. I
removed about a 5 quart pail of pea sized fruit from the Red Haven alone
and the other two did not quite have as many. In growing it was obvious
that the Balmer was a later crop than the others and Red Haven was ready in
Late August, followed by the Haley Haven. By the time the Balmer was ready
in late September, the Wasps and the Lady Bugs had really started to take
over and I tried to salvage some with early green picking but that proved
an error, did not ripen, too green I guess. The remainder was damaged
badly but managed to cut the good parts from the ones that did not rot on
the tree and the taste was great. Juicy and sweet, also free-stone.
The Haley is also a good peach but not free-stone, you waste a lot of
the peach when you eat or cut, as the meat does not come off the seed easily.
At the present time the trees are pink with blossoms from top to bottom
and it is quite a sight to see. If they all set will be thinning one heck
of a long time. It has been wet and drizzling for the past three days and
today it is raining pretty hard so will not know for a while what the fruit
set will be. Regards-Ray