Early peaches are small, and usually not as sweet.

Peaches up here from Georgia and California have been selling for a $1/lb... The California grown ones are FAR better then the Georgia ones, to me taste buds...

In my stone fruit, eating quality is pretty well correlated to interior color. High quality is associated with an intense interior color. For instance recently ripe white nectarines, Arctic Star, had red veining in a white interior of the best fruit. Yellow nectarines are at their best when the yellow is an intense nearly orange and there is red veining also in the interior.

A green interior usually indicates that the fruit is not ripe. But too much nitrogen or water might contribute to that condition. In my stone fruit the most important factor affecting fruit quality is water status. Some degree of water stress is necessary to achieve superior fruit quality.

The Fruitnut

It sounds like to me the peaches were picked before they were fully ripe. Red skin is not a good indicator all the times for peach ripeness. A change in the background color from green to yellow, the peach has a good fragrance to it, and the peach will give a little to the touch as it starts to reach peak ripeness. Peaches are very perishable, left to sit out on the counter, all will eventually start to rot no matter the quality to begin with.
All peaches from packing facilities in Georgia are sized, usually 2 3/4 in, 2 1/2 in, and 2 1/4 in. Grade "A" refers to a standard of 90% minimum of peaches that are blemish free, no visible defects, and not undersized in random samples done through the day at the facilities. Each size run will have to be certified Grade "A". Grocery stores pay more each size larger.
In my opinion no peach in a grocery store, no matter where it is from can compare in taste to a homegrown peach.

Russell

Thanks for your comments. We are on our second Southern Pearl tree, which is a white-fleshed variety. Our first tree, before it croaked (in a location too wet) produced the most indescribably sweet fruits I'd ever enjoyed. The second tree is doing much better, and I anticipate at least a handful of peaches next season.

Interesting about the water stress, Fruitnut. I think the southeast has received an average rainfall this year, possibly even slightly above average. So, a tasty crop should actually receive a bit less water? That seems counterintuitive, but I guess a juicy peach does not equate with a sweet peach. Does that sound right?

The thing that really puzzles me is the lack of continuity of ripeness of these peaches, from the outside to the inside. In my many years of eating peaches, I'd never seen this phenomenon before.

To be perfectly honest, I'd prefer a grocery store peach, maybe a bit firm and/or mealy, to these. The taste of the outer portion was "OK," but the tart firmness of the center spoils the sweetness.

I realize I don't know the time between picking and when we purchased the peaches Sunday, but the guy said it was two days. I wouldn't expect a decent peach to start spoiling four days off the tree!

-Bruce

We don't grow peaches here in Wisconsin, but of course they are available in the grocery stores when they are in season. These are not the peaches of my youth. In the 1950's, it was very typical to have to cut a bad spot out of an otherwise good peach, but I don't remember ever encountering a ripe looking peach that was green inside, or that had a mealy tasteless texture. Today's peaches tend to look good, but the inside is good maybe 50% of the time. I don't know if this is genetics, or some modern growing method. I just know that you can't trust peaches these days...

The biggest problem with store-bought and even roadside peaches is they are generally picked too early. Commercial growers simply can't pick full ripe peaches and hope to deliver them in any kind of decent condition. This is true even for community farmer's markets. Peaches, no matter how firm they're bred to be, are going to soften as they ripen. Soft fruit = more bruises = less sales.

Red fruit sells, so the industry has produced peach varieties that "color up" well before ripe. Growers are able to harvest firm fruit that looks appealing. As Eric points out, unfortunately the result is "peaches you can't trust."

Bruce,
You have a fair complaint if your peaches were mealy and green. But, as Russell states, ripe preaches (whether counter ripened, or tree ripened) are very perishable. Two days on the counter before spoiling, is about the most you can ask.

Also agree too much water or N, can reduce fruit quality.

I buy a ton of peaches over the season (and one reason why my yard tends to have peaches sprouting up everywhere), and i've noticed that some stores must let there peaches get too cold? and they turn to crap (all mealy)... Its nasty. I've actually returned fruit! I once took back a watermelon (the whole thing all cut up) because it smelled like fish after i opened it up. No way i'm i paying $5 for some fish smelling fruit :)

Eric-

Why not take your boat across the lake to the land of the peaches/cherries (Traverse City, MI)???

Earliest peaches are usually a bit green by the pit and very clingstone. Some have a nice acid zing even though picked too green. Had some nice S Carolina peaches recently, but now my strawberries are comeing in big time so I'll stick to my own fruit.

Georgia can grow just as good, if not better peaches than CA- they just need more chemicals to do it. I've had both be anywhere from poor to excellent. The CA stone-fruit industry has been pushed by development too far inland for consistant peach production. By mid-summer and often sooner the temps go above 100 F. and cook the fruit on the trees so they tast like sawdust. Georgia's high humidity and slightly lower temps help stop this from happening.

I think the distribution from CA is far superior, however, so you can sometimes get peaches picked closer to ripeness even though they've come a lot further (I live in southeast NY).

It's still too early for a really rich freestone peach, even from CA.

MMM, I dunno about that, I've been savoring some of my Flordaprinces from my early-peach-multi-graft tree this past week, pretty darn tasty! Even my friend said Wow--yum! when I gave her a slice. Now, the Desert Golds and the Earlygrands were just OK, so I'd agree they can't be called "rich". I only have one May Pride, and if memory serves that's a really rich peach, too, but I am waiting until my single one falls off ripe to eat it, so I'll let you know.

Carla in Sac

PS Anyone know why it's named "Flordaprince" instead of "Floridaprince?". Were 'I's scarce that year, or something?

I can't argue about anything someones harvesting from their own tree, but I bet even the farm markets in CA don't have the best peaches yet. I haven't lived in CA for 30 years so the breeders may be way ahead of me but nothing luscious has made it here yet.

A good variety of peach that is tree ripened is fantastic.

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, growers, shippers and sellers can't get it to the masses without basically ruining the taste that make people want it.

After 25 years of trying, we have quit buying store bought peaches. They are simply a poor substitute for the real thing. Hardly worth calling a peach. Roadside stands are hit and miss, but, at least there you stand some chance of getting a peach that was allowed to get close enough to "ripe" to retain enough of the true peach flavor to make it worth eating.

Maybe one of these days they will come up with some genetic, technological or shipping advance that gets a ripe peach to the buyer still tasting like a peach, but, until then, I'm pretty convinced the only folks who actually buy what they sell in the grocery stores (outside of peach country) are folks who don't know what a tree ripened peach actually tastes like. ;(

rcnaylor-

Just another reason to build a high tunnel in the front yard and assure a supply of yearly peaches! I'm tempted. Neighbors already think i'm nuts.

My experience is that you don't even get good fruit from the roadside stands in CA, or anywhere else for that matter. Four yrs in CA and the only good fruit I could find was from Dave Wilson's test orchard in Reedley, CA. Even that wasn't as reliably good as from my greenhouse. I've had great fruit for two months. The Arctic Star nectarines have been sensational for a month. But you need to let the fruit get soft on the tree and they cann't be over or under watered.

Arctic Star is ripe in CA now. It is about as good as fruit gets. But you aren't likely to find any in the store like mine.

The Fruitnut

Ah, you are making my mouth water Fruitnut... and almost making me want to take on the expense of keeping a greenhouse heated in Amarillo. ;)

rc: I almost built in Amarillo. The weather is better here so am glad I didn't. But we have had a lot of hail and freezes here as well.

Heating won't be bad if you went a little slower on the start to the season and forget the citrus. I heat mine to 33F to protect the citrus. But you could go three months in the winter and just heat to about 10F. Just set things up so it won't freeze the plumbing. You could then just heat to keep above the critical temp which is well below freezing for much of the cold season.

Neither heating nor cooling is very expensive here. I estimate ~$500 annual heating and cooling cost for a 32ft by 54ft greenhouse. Half that size would keep a family in fruit.

The Fruitnut

I grow my own peaches, and I can tell you this much.....peaches do not ripen once they are picked from the tree. They may get softer, but they won't get 'riper' IOW sweeter.

I have purchased store peaches before, beautiful ones and had the same thing happen. Look ripe, but feel hard, rotted in spots when the flesh is still hard and tart. Picked too early for shipping purposes. Like throwing money down the drain. We used to have a few really good local peach orchards but they went defunct when the owners got too old and retired. I started planting peach trees of my own when I saw the handwriting on the wall.

I have bought wonderful stonefruit in green markets in CA- picked firm ripe where they soften the next day out of refrigeration. Many new varities don't even soften on the tree (Blushing Star and White Lady for example) and need to be picked to ripen properly- well, white lady will soften eventually on tree. Even in the East, high quality stonefruit is often available in supermarkets- it's just that you never know what you're getting. I once bought some Elberta peaches from a grocery store in Georgia that were absolutely "perfect". Probably from a local grower.

Pluots often get good sugar up before they are picked and shipped and many stores offer flown in stone fruit for a premium price.

Fruitnut, you certainly enjoy your exclusive club of one as far as fruit enjoyment goes. It is true that once you've enjoyed "the best" nothing else can quite suffice. I am only kidding- most of us who grow our own fruit get some enjoymemt out of the exclusivity of the pleasure. But until one tastes your perfect nectarines one can probably expereince the same level of joy by eating lesser fruit from their own trees.

I used to think my Madison peach produced the best fruit in the world until some other varieties started showing me higher quality. Now I'm spoiled for that quality. Almost everyone who tastes my fruit thinks it's the best they've tasted but I know it could be slightly better if it was grown under a hotter sun and got full sun from dawn to dusk. But the best of my fruit is still absolutely satisfying for me.