I really thought this would be my first year to enjoy delicious, home-grown peaches from my own tree. Boy, was I wrong.
The tree was absolutely covered with beautiful pink blossoms this spring. I planted a dwarf variety tree, self-pollinating, so that I could plant it right out in the garden. Dwarf trees produce faster, and this one put on blossoms after two years and was covered with fruit this year, the third year in the ground.
All of you who follow my columns know that when any fruit in my garden begins to ripen, I cover it with a sheer curtain. This keeps the birds out, but allows for watering and for evaporation of water from the area around the plants or shrub, or in this case, tree. However, there was something I did not take into consideration about covering this tree, and it was my undoing.
I must stop here and pass on a little information. Peaches, along with apples, plums and most other fruit trees we grow in our yards and gardens, are members of the rose family. What that means is that they must be grown with the same care as rose bushes. If you are an aggressive rose grower, and I was at one time in my life, you know this means a LOT of work, but with roses it is always worth it in the end, when people slow down their cars as they pass your house in order to view the large, almost porcelain-looking blossoms covering a shrub of deep green, flawless foliage.
The thing is, although I came across the family relationship between roses and peaches early enough to save my fruit, it did not sink in and I did not really consider what this meant until it was too late.
What I did not consider was that when I cover a plant, I stop spraying it. And it was several weeks between the time I covered that tree, and the day I saw a blush of bright pink under the covering and raised the curtain, to find ...
Do all of you know what a Japanese beetle is? They are the very large, iridescent green beetles that fly around sounding like bumblebees. Rose growers know them only too well, because they can destroy a rose bush in a matter of days. This is, of course, one of many reasons why rose growers spray their plants weekly with both pesticide and fungicide as soon as the leaves begin to emerge in the spring.
What I saw when I raised that curtain were dozens of those very pretty beetles happily munching on my ripening peaches.
That was when I made my second mistake. I knocked off the beetles and picked the green fruit, which had not yet been attacked. And then, after removing all the destroyed ripened fruit and throwing it in the compost heap, I sat for a moment considering whether I knew anything about ripening peaches, which I did not. And the grandkids were here, so I was tired. And I am not really supposed to be out in the heat very long because of the medication I take, and it was one of those 100 degree-plus days. And I threw a gallon of unripened peaches into the compost pile.
It was not until I began doing research to write this column that I found the proper way to ripen unripe peaches in the house. So, I am going to pass all the information along I found about growing peaches. This information applies to rose bushes, apple trees, and anything else in the same family.
Peaches must be pruned early in the spring; February is a good time, before the leaves and blossoms emerge. Prune off the dead, and shape the tree to ensure sunlight gets to all the foliage and fruit.
Begin spraying for both insects and fungus weekly as soon as leaves or blossoms appear, and DO NOT STOP until about one week before full ripening occurs, or according to the manufacturer specifications for the chemicals you are using. I always pick one that allows harvesting in one week or less after the last spraying.
Keep grass and weeds down around the trees and shrubs. Japanese beetles breed in grass. However, in rural areas such as ours, there is no way to control pasture or other agricultural land around us, and Japanese beetles will travel a great distance to feed on peaches. Peaches also need to be fertilized on a regular basis; they pull a lot of nutrients out of the soil.
If you have a problem in your area with Japanese beetles before the fruit ripens fully, as soon as it shows signs of impending ripening, pick the fruit and place it in a PAPER bag. Do not store peaches in plastic bags, they will rot before they ripen. Place another fruit such as a banana in the bag as well, as the gases given off by the ripening banana will speed ripening of the peaches. Check the fruit frequently, and remove all fruit that is obviously ripe as soon as possible.
And once again, keep in mind the Internet is a wealth of information, and has the answers to almost any gardening questing you have. So, coincidentally, do the good folks in your local Master Gardener's club. To speak with one of these folks, call your local County Cooperative Extension Office.
And for those of you here locally who had a great garden this year, don't forget to enter your produce or canned produce in the Mississippi County Fair. The date for those entries is this coming Monday, Aug. 20. Hope to see a lot of you out there!
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