So, this is one of several peaches I have that were obviously mislabeled. I’d love to know what this is, and in my searches I haven’t seen many red-fleshed peaches. I first thought it could be an Indian cling, but the outside doesn’t look like it. That is one of the only red fleshed peaches I’ve seen.
These peaches were very red fleshed, more than it looks in this photo, and this one was less red than most.
It was sort of on the line of cling and free stone, so I’d call it semi-cling but it could be either one, so don’t disqualify it as something you suspect just because it doesn’t fit the cling/free stone category of the one you think it might be.
The blooms were the simple blooms, not showy. Looked like Red Haven Blooms.
Perhaps the biggest clue to help you is that this peach was very, very early. In fact, it was my first peach this year and it ripened in mid June in my area.
As you can see from the photo, not only is the flesh mostly red, but the outside of the peaches were almost all solid red. Almost no yellow anywhere on any peach.
I have two peaches that were also mislabeled. We finally determined they were called Earlitreat.
I picked them on 7/10/13. They are rated a zone 6-9 peach from Zaiger Genetics. I had ordered a Belle of Georgia and a Golden Jubilee and this is what I got…
Not saying that’s what you have, but mine was early and the skin bled through the flesh. The juice was red, and the pit was somewhat smallish and lighter in color.
Maybe look up Earlitreat just to read up on it some.
That’s true, plus Harrow Diamond doesn’t color as well as the peaches shown. Rich May is red like the pic, but it also has showy blooms and more of a beak. I don’t know what the peach is, but you could eliminate those two.
I’ll do some more reading, but I am 95% sure you have solved my mystery! If not, its so close I can call it that and be close enough to satisfy myself. It certainly is a better guess than “redhaven” which is what the label says! So thanks a lot Jerry. That sure looks just like it. Thanks to others for offering assistance.
Matt: I’m a poor one to ask that of, I’d not grown peaches before then, and that year we had a whole 13 peaches between the two trees!
They were however just the best peaches I’ve ever eaten… But I know everyone says that about stuff they grow, and really I have zero reference points in this case.
Alan had said at the time if I like an early peach just wait until I can taste a later peach.
Well, this may be the year as I have about 20 that survived the winter on my Redhaven. I thought I would have some on my Madison, but they all fell off.
I grow Earlitreat and picked my first this year in the last week of May, about a month before my first Gold Dust, and before any of my sweet cherries. Gold Dust is better, but Earlitreat has some “real” peach flavor and the taste can be surprisingly good for such an early peach. Mine sets pretty heavily and needs thinning to get the brix up enough to be better than just a novelty. The texture of mine is the same as a typical later peach. It blooms early in the spring and always gets some peach leaf curl, but not too badly. My Earlitreat is not as red-skinned or fleshed as those in the OP’s images. I’m not familiar with the newer early peaches for the East and cannot evaluate Earlitreat comparatively, but in my California locale, I’d endorse adding a branch or two of it. If you’d like scion over the winter, PM me.
If you have not yet had a late, home grown peach, then I am just excited FOR YOU! One of my very favorite thing about growing peaches is when I give them to friends and family who have only had store bought peaches in the past. It is absolutely priceless to just stand by quietly as s “homegrown peach virgin” bites into a fresh picked, tree ripened, homegrown peach. You can literally see it on their face…that look of curiosity turns into shock, then amazement, then pure joy. Right about then is when they wipe the juice from their chin (because they never imagined that juice would just pour out of peach since it never does on the grocery store peaches) and then make some kind of exclamation- often involving some profanity! ha. What is even funnier is that within a couple bites as they are really getting pumped up on this new discovery of incredible taste, about 1/2 of them start asking questions about whether they can grow these in their location or not! haha. Of course they know nothing about the difficulty of growing peaches or the time involved or so on. But its fun to see people as their brains go to work on how they can acquire more of this incredible new food. They start thinking "wait, you live in the same area I do, you aren’t a millionaire with a climate control greenhouse, and you aren’t a professional peach grower. You planted a tree in your yard and you created this incredible , life altering taste I have in my mouth, so I ought to be able to do it to! ANd they start asking things like “where did you get the tree?” “How long does it take to get fruit”, and “how hard are they to grow?”. haha.
SInce you’ve already been growing some, you’ll be at a big advantage when you take that first bite! Your reaction will more one fo excitement as you think “oh my goodness, I am going to have even more of these next year”. Although, its likely that even you will be thinking "hmm…I still have that one spot in my yard where I can fit another tree or two into. haha.
Anyway, be sure and let us know how you enjoy your first redhaven. I know everyone here has their own favorite, modern peaches, but Red Haven is an old, standard peach for a reason…they are just plain great tasting peaches!!! I love mine, and it always creates the reactions I’ve just described when I give them to someone…
My mother loves peaches, and it brings me great joy to give her a batch of locally grown sun-blasted peaches each summer as a gift. She treasures each one.
I have great expectations of canning and freezing peaches to see me through the after-summer months (next year…) and I was thinking last night as my wife had opened up a bag of frozen pineapple from the store for us to each have a little bowl as a snack as we sat down in front of the TV… boy this semi-frozen pineapple is going to seem tasteless compared to home grown peaches she breaks out of the freezer.
But Olpea has often said he really likes Redhaven and has a fair amount of them in his lineup, so I’m hoping that it performs well here too.
I love that, Matt, and can relate so much. If you saw that photo of all my peaches boxed up in my car, its because I was taking them to my parents- especially my mom… Just like yours, my mom goes crazy over them. My parents have done well financially so I really can’t buy my mom anything she can’t just buy herself, but homegrown peaches are one thing that she just can’t get herself (no farmers market in her town) so just like your mom, mine looks forward to my peaches all year. That is exactly why this year I took her about 20 times more peaches that she could ever use (or so I thought!). The plan was she’d have plenty and would enjoy giving the rest away. But she was so proud of them that she sat up until after midnight (a big deal for her!) two nights in a row just peeling and freezing tons of peaches. SHe was just so proud of them she couldn’t bear to give too many away. Those she did give away was also fun for her.
Anyway, that is my typical long-winded way of saying I know what you mean about how fun it is to give fresh peaches to your mom when she loves them so much. Its one more big reason to grow great fruit!
