Sunday, July 4, 2010

Fruit 2010

With the last hard freeze, I believe the set up was there for a great fruit crop this year and it looks like I might be right. Many old fruit men think it is not only the number of frost day but having one or two really cold days that sets up the year for a grand fruit crop. The fruit trees here at Draco are packed beyond their limits with gorgeous, tasty fruit and Ol' Bob has been eating plums and peaches every morning and every evening.

Plums being my favorite fruit I have two plum trees, both of which are Santa Rosa. One was supposed to be a Methley but I think the label was wrong. No problem as Santa Rosa is an excellent eating plum and I have been eating them since I was a kid.




I'm very lucky that the three peach trees I have get ripe at different. It makes it much easier to deal with as far as keeping the varmints out of them and dealing with all that fruit in the kitchen as well. All the peach trees I have are great producers with great tasting fruit and two are freestone. I would tell you what they are but I don't know. I want to know, I just don't. All these trees were bought from different nurseries, at different times, and they were all labeled Nectarines. That's right, the peach with no fuzz. The answer was the same from all three nurseries when I took them a peach from my nectarine tree and asked them about it. Oops. Yeah, that's about it. I used one of my holes dug by backhoe and $36 worth of dirt on a tree I didn't want and all I got from them was oops. I was really mad back then. I'm not so mad any more. You can tell why when you see the pictures. This is the first peach tree to get ripe and it's the worst of the three. It's hard to believe, but it gets better with the other trees.



In the next photo, if you look close on top of the top peach is a member of my ground crew. Daddy Longlegs usually only go out in the evenings or at night as they seem to be very light sensitive. The fruit trees are so heavily leafed that they can stay in the trees all day, just looking for some hapless little bug to eat. And they are as the trees are "crawling" with them. I believe they are the best predator bug you can have in your garden. I've set and watched them eat aphids by the zillions. Keep your little orange Lady bugs, I'll stay with my Daddy Longlegs.


With so many peaches I had to start holding the limbs up with boards and that was after some serious thinning.


And, while I did lose some to the squirrels, I didn't mind with this many peaches.
Even though this tree is about over the next one is only a week or so from producing another round of delicious peaches for Lyn, I and friends.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Article is very good ..as well as the photos..

John

http://santarosa.ws

Tabor said...

I am drooling, I am jealous, I am hungry for breakfast! Plums and peaches by the dozens. What wonderful freezer jams these would make.

Diana said...

I have peach envy! They are beautiful and how lucky you get to have fresh fruit every morning. I have some plums - just a few - that are ripening, but it's the first year for them. My peaches are still the size of a shooter marble-and green. There are several of them but they've been that size for months now. Guess I should have fed the tree. Oh well, we did enjoy some loquats and plums and that was a huge plus. We'll have pomegranates, too, later. BTW - my trellis is stunning! Thank you so much.

katina said...

My friends, Lon and Daniella don't have any peach trees in their yard, but the neighbors on both sides do and the limbs hang over the fence. So they've been having a steady supply of peaches without the care of the trees. :)

Linda/patchwork said...

Yum....how lucky you are to have all those.

ConsciousGardener said...

How awesome Bob! I haven't had luck with plums so I guess I need to try your favorite variety! I've got some Jalepeno Peach Jam for ya when you swing by! I love, LOVE the spider web:) Thank you!

Rock rose said...

What fabulous fruit. I did try with plums but got some kind of borer in the trunk. Your success is amazing and such perfect fruits.

mss @ Zanthan Gardens said...

All I have are Mexican plums but you're right--the trees are loaded with fruit like never before. I'm thinking of making some Japanese salt-pickled plums out of them (umeboshi).