Below is a link to and article in Growing Produce, which I thought some might find interesting. I’ve seen the same thing Bill Shane describes, namely farm marketers selling all kinds of yellow peaches as Redhaven.
A true Redhaven is a great peach, as grown here. It is still the most widely planted peach in the U.S, and for good reason, in my opinion.
It has a natural spreading habit, produces large sweet peaches (unless there is a ton of rain) and is later blooming and fairly tolerant of lower winter temps. This peach is still the anchor peach for the peach orchards in the Midwest.
I’d recommend this peach to anyone in the Midwest who wanted a good tasting, productive peach.
Olpea the article was really interesting as was the article on stonefruit (plums), I’ll be either grafting or replacing a peach with Redhaven. Can’t wait to try it!.
Redhaven is a great peach. The fruit tastes at least decent every year. Most years, it is excellent. It’s the peach that got me excited about peaches again several years ago (similar to the effect Honeycrisp and Pink Lady’s emergence onto the mainstream markets got me excited about apples again). I grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania when Red Delicious was the only apple one could find 11 months out of the year. I detest Red Delicious, so I rarely ate apples for an approximately 15 years-long period of my life.
There is a reason Redhaven is one of the standards of the peach world.
I got some Redhaven peaches last week at the farmer’s market. They are OK, barely. 11-12 brix and had a somewhat muted flavor. I believe them when they told me the name, as they are usually pretty good about that. For example, they were the ones I got the “Early Gold” plums from, when they could have just said “Shiro” (those were 2 weeks later and not as good).
I’ve also had Redhaven’s from a PYO in past years, where they were a bit better (more flavor, not all that sweet), but nothing special. I remember when these came up in the past, that people outside the Northeast have had much better experiences with Redhaven (more sun? less rain?). I just picked my first Contender today- it was 13 brix and nice strong flavor.
I’m ordering Contender this year. I’ve read too many good things about that peach and its very hardy. I’ve never grown Redhaven so can’t comment on it. It sounds like the “standard” of peaches (something to rate others against)…
In my 5th season of growing and humble opinion, the 4 of 20 peach varieties that I have planted with the best overall production and taste have been Redhaven. I am in zone 6A, southeastern PA. They outproduced, outperformed and outtasted my other peaches. However, I don’t have alot of experience. Chad
I’m not saying Redhaven isn’t good- just that it isn’t good the way people around here grow it. If I try grafting it at some point, I’ll have to be careful to test it in both “normal” exposure and when there is almost no shading (like an espalier).
Wonder if your Redhaven were held in refrigeration for a while before they were sold? That would explain the fact that that you picked fresh Contenders about a week after you bought Redhaven and the muted flavor of the Redhaven, The ripening date difference between these two peaches is about 20 days. This year I had almost 2 weeks between the last of my Redhaven and the first of the Contender.
Is there anything better around Redhaven’s ripening time? I never realized Contender was so much later ripening. I may need to add a Redhaven…i need something earlier.
Challenger, Fireprince, and Winblo ripen after Redhaven but before Contender. They all do well in my area. Challenger and Winblo are from the same breeding program at NC State as Contender. Below is the ripening sequence compared to Elberta based on the numbers from Vaughn Nursery. From some reason these numbers change depending on where they came from.
Redhaven 28
Challenger 25
Fireprince 20
Winblo 15
Contender 7
I had the same thought as Blueberry. Redhaven ripens about 3 weeks before Contender. Refrigeration that Blueberry mentions is a possibility. Another possibility is that they picked the Redhavens from the very bottom/center of the tree. That fruit always takes a long time to soften and is very poor eating quality.
I too have heard several accounts of the mediocrity of Redhaven when grown in the Northeast. This has always been surprising to me because it’s such a great peach here. I sold a bunch of Redhavens this year that were very good. Somewhat better than Contender (although Contender is a fine peach).
I’ve been picking Redhavens for about 8 years and only one year was I disappointed in the quality. That year it rained a lot two weeks prior to harvest. I’ll note in the last 8 years Redhaven has produced something every single year.
Your right, it is a bit late for a fresh picked Redhaven. I’ll have to ask them about that. Either explanation would make sense.
I’m actually a bit surprised that Contender is ready now. Carolina Gold is supposed to be only 3 days later and the last 2 years I’ve picked them on 8/28 (first crop in 2013) and 8/24-9/6 (2014). I picked the first Contenders yesterday (and a few more today), which is 11 days earlier than the earliest Carolina Gold (8 days more than the expected gap). Maybe things are a bit earlier this year. But, as of this morning Carolina Gold was rock hard and looks to be a few weeks from ripe. They are in a different part of the yard. Maybe Contender gets a bit more sun, though Carolina Gold get quite a lot (just a bit of early morning shade from a neighbors house).
Here’s a pic of 3 Contenders I picked today, along with a few Bubblegum plums.
I picked up a cheap ($13) Redhaven at Lowes the end of last year. This spring it looked like it had gummosis at multiple spots. I treated with copper and other treatments every few days and I think It’s cured. I was disappointed with the poor quality of the tree but was happy when it had 10 peaches. They started ripening the third week of July. I didn’t spray so some rotted and the animals got some. The last one on the tree I picked only partially ripe. It was very good considering it was not completely ripe.
Go with Loring. Loring is the best peach I’ve ever yet eaten. I had a batch of Lorings from a southern PA orchard during the last week of August last year-- they blew my mind.
Beautiful apricot-colored peach. Super tangy and super juicy tangelo-like flavor produces a wow factor. Luscious sweet melting freestone flesh.
Reported to be vigorous and productive, but buds may be somewhat frost tender. Ripe approx Aug 17- 27. Recommended by Univ of Maryland. Released 1946 from Univ of Missouri. Halehaven & Frank cross.
I actually only grow the Loring sport, Jonboy in my northeast orchard. It comes in right after Redhaven and has deeper orange flesh and richer flavor than the Redhaven I grow. Loring is later, but more or less the same peach and it is the gold standard for the classic, melting, rich, orange fleshed peach. There are so many excellent peaches out there now it gets hard to decide what is the best. Loring is one of those beautifully blooming big flower peaches.
Earnie’s Choice comes in just a tad before Loring and has a touch more acid for extra zing and Winblo comes in with EC with maybe a bit more sugar, but a much smaller peach. My head swims when I’m asked to list a favorite- there is a lot more difference between peaches in any give tree than between high quality peach varieties.
After I leave my computer I’m going back to slicing and freezing nectarines- something I don’t bother doing with peaches.
Good point. Quality characteristics also depend on use. Most people probably judge a fresh eating peach by its sweetness. Sugar content isn’t as important for baking as the acid/flavor profile.
I think Olpea was pointing out that Redhaven still has a reputation for commercial reliability in extreme environments. Some people prefer consistency over surprise, especially when it affects their business reputation. Unfortunately, the Redhaven reputation is in jeopardy due to other peach varieties being marketed as Redhaven. Of course there are similar marketing tactics employed for just about any product category out there. Sellers try to associate their products with whatever name is selling best.
