Tough peaches

Living in Central Virginia (just east of the Shenandoah Valley). I have an approximately 3-4 yo Elberta peach I planted, and it's doing OK, but I noticed that the fruit is "rubbery". It's sweet enough, but the texture of the flesh is "tough". As a novice with fruit trees, I'm never quite sure exactly when to pick them to avoid either under or over-ripe fruit. It's tough enough fighting the deer for them as it is, so I want to try to get them at their peak of ripeness if it's at all possible.

This is a big peach growing area, so I'm OK there, I think, and the local commercial growers are selling them right and left and they are wonderful. Have I just waited too long to pick mine? That is, did I leave it on the tree too long? Not long enough? The ones I got from a grower can go for more than a few days after being picked to soften a bit, but they are never tough, quite the contrary.

Any ideas??

TIA

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Living in Central Virginia (just east of the Shenandoah Valley). I have an approximately 3-4 yo Elberta peach I planted, and it's doing OK, but I noticed that the fruit is "rubbery". It's sweet enough, but the texture of the flesh is "tough". As a novice with fruit trees, I'm never quite sure exactly when to pick them to avoid either under or over-ripe fruit. It's tough enough fighting the deer for them as it is, so I want to try to get them at their peak of ripeness if it's at all possible.

This is a big peach growing area, so I'm OK there, I think, and the local commercial growers are selling them right and left and they are wonderful. Have I just waited too long to pick mine? That is, did I leave it on the tree too long? Not long enough? The ones I got from a grower can go for more than a few days after being picked to soften a bit, but they are never tough, quite the contrary.

Any ideas??

TIA

Reply to
EPPack

I don't pick my peaches till they are golden and soft to the touch. I gently press and if it gives easily, I pick it. Many people think peaches are ripe when they are that reddish color. Not so. Peaches are ripe with the skin turns a golden yellow and are soft to the touch. Now, I did canning and lots of it, so I have tons of peaches to work with, but I never pull a peach off before it is fully ripened on the tree. They cannot be beat. I have no idea what the commercial growers do. They may be using synthetic methods to ripen the fruit on a schedule in a chamber of sorts. I know they pick peaches before they are soft, but just after they color up.

When a peach from the store is mealy, it's because they probably froze at some point.

Victoria

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Reply to
escapee

Mine were not hard like an unripe peach, they were actually rubbery, which is why I asked. I haven't ever seen this before in a peach, whether from my little tree or the local growers. A distinctly odd texture!

The color was right, and it was neither mushy nor hard, but it was a little bit closer to hard than soft. Not all THAT much, tho, and it tasted, well, just "peachy" :) to coin a cliche :) I even let it sit on the counter for a day or two--that shouldn't have made a difference, I wouldn't think? I do the same with the local growers' fruits and this never happens with them.

Our local growers sell fresh picked peaches directly to the consumers at their own fruit stand, or you can pick them yourself (we don't). They are taken directly from the tree to the stand (we've seen them) so while I agree some growers do other stuff, these don't, at least for the ones at the stand.

Ah! I always wondered what caused that! Interesting! I've gotten to the point now that I *never* buy them in the store, because no matter how nice they look, I've always been disappointed :( We just load up in the summer now direct from the orchards.

Thanks!

elaine

Reply to
EPPack

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