I think part of the overall decline and the extra appeal of fresh peaches is that peaches are never really in season anymore at the grocery store. It used to be that you would get two or three weeks of ripe peaches even at the Safeway. No more. So the fancy pants ones seem almost exotic.
I think one of the great mysteries of agronomy is how Sams Club can figure out a way to market green peaches in mid-September.
I do the same thing but I put a piece of rubber inner tube under the aluminum then write on it with a ballpoint pen pressing hard.
Old topic but slightly new take on it… And I was inspired by some of the examples previously shared here. Specifically the greater contrast of the black 3D printed letters on lighter background you did @speedster1
I had a big sheet of aluminum my dad got from his time in the book printing industry years ago. Not much different than a sheet of metal flashing (or window blinds) others had mentioned here, just free… (and thick enough to last and not be destroyed all that easily I hope)
The only thing I did beyond using a set of letter stamps as many others have, was to try and get some black paint into the letter imprints. I got a small 2oz bottle of black acrylic paint and eye dropper’ed it into the letters then squeegeed the excess off. I had hoped a bit more of the paint would remain making the letters more distinct. I’ll keep experimenting… And by the time I’m done will have worked out the best way to do it probably 
The stamps alone left a readable letter, but silver-on-silver was much harder to read at a glance. I hoped a bit of contrast would help with that… Oh and I also sprayed a UV resistant clear coat over this to hopefully help the black paint last even longer.
These are interstem grafts. M111 roots and BUD9 (and some G.41) ~1’ interstem pieces.
A Fade/UV resistant marker (I used a Sharpie “Extreme”) in the stamped indention is much easier. For hopefully a bit more longevity, a UV resistant clear spray paint coat applied as well.
It fades. Just a little slower than regular sharpies. Maybe the clear coat will help.
Thanks… I figured it wouldn’t last forever, but if it beats the ~3 months to fade on plastic tags so be it… Plus the impression in the aluminum will likely last > the life of the tree. I was just shooting for easier readability and can always “freshen up” the black ink every N years if desired.
Someone posted a pic of an aluminum tag on a FB group today, likely powder-coated paint/coloring on the aluminum, sourced from a mini blind. He wrote the info in pencil and said it was still clear and legible 12yrs later… Hmm.
FWIW if you live close to salt water the padded aluminium tags will be illegible within a few years.
I rescued some old powder-coated aluminum Venetian blinds years ago…brown on one side, white on the other. I write the ID on the white side in pencil and ‘scribe’ it through the paint on the brown side with a nail.
One or both will be legible longer than I’ll be around.
I like the stainless tape in this Dymo.
I usually put the year, and sometimes source as well as variety name.
These were probably duplicates for multiple grafts:
Look up gilders paste/wax and see if that might work. I bought some with that intention but haven’t tried it in the elements yet. It’s basically a colored wax you rub on.
@Travis That paste/wax might just work, good idea… Might have to give that a try.
@Quill I bet salt water would do a number on them… I’m a bit over 300 miles from the coast though, just high humidity here
@Lucky_P I find it kind of fascinating that a regular old lead (graphite) pencil will last so long on a surface like that. I’ve also tended to mark(er) both sides of a tag. Only one side tends to catch the sun’s UV rays, so the other side lasts much longer.
@murky Much faster and less labor intensive, like it! Think I read on here about someone using a dog tag stamping machine as well. More uniform and also faster I suppose, but a bit more than the ~$15 for the letter/number stamp set I bought. If I were to ever spot one at a yard sale though…
I have tried all of the types mentioned so far except for the 3d printed.
None worked for me. I needed something big so I could see it, something bright so I could spot it in all the foliage.
So what I did was (1) get a sheet of UV stable outdoor ABS plastic, yellow on black, (2) cut it into roughly 6"x2" pieces and (3) using the Dremel tool, I ground/carved off the yellow to reveal the black.
I now have 6"x2" labels big enough that I can read and the yellow stands out enough for me to spot it.
See the photos below.
The number on the lower corner is the estimated ripening time. Example: 9- is early September, 9 is Mid September, 9+ is… you guessed it.
Mike
I am now trying to use a laser CNC carve out but that takes 2 hours to do 1 label. By hand its about 1 minute per label but not as pretty. And… I have to do about 180 of these.
I love the idea of putting on harvest times, i can feel some additions coming on to my labels!
Very nice. Love the visibility. That’s what I’m attempting to accomplish with the black ink. Suggestions on where to source a sheet of plastic like that?
@Dave8abond Agreed, love the idea of harvest time/window on there as well.
These abs sheets are made by ROWMARK and the best place I found was HANSEN SUPPLY.
These come in 24" x 48" sheets but they will cut them into 1/2 or 1/4 sheets.
I used 1/8 inch thick which is perfect with no flex and solid but still cuts easy with a circular saw.
I got it in days . See the link below.
JUST MAKE SURE YOU GET THE UV STABLE SHEETS. THEY ARE MARKED FOR
"OUTDOOR USE"
https://www.hansensupply.com/engraving-machines-supplies/engraving-plastic/rowmark-engraving-plastic
Good luck
Mike
I tried this one but it took too long per label and… ALWAYS, because I could not see the the label status, 3/4 of the way through I made a spelling mistake and ruined that label and all my previous work on it.
I am sure it will be a labor of love 
Mike
It can be tedious, but I get into a rhythm, usually do them in batches.
This looks expensive
Looks like a 24" x 48" sheet is about $109. With labels at 2" x 6" that’s a bit over $1 each. Not terrible I suppose…
This is awesome. Never thought you can print on stainless steel tape. Nice!!
