0tterbot wrote:
"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
I got some of our fragar peaches before the bats this morning. Rich,
aromatic, sweet and juicy, two vanished very quickly before I poured my
cornflakes. Juice, and probably some saliva, was running down to my
elbows.
There is just no comparison with store-bought because they tend to be
picked
under ripe.

For those who haven't tried a properly ripened peach or nectarine, even if
you
have room for only one fruit tree in your yard plant one.

David

well we've been trying to join you, but having a few problems & having to
eat the peaches not-quite-ripe! it is a bit frustrating. something is
stinging the fruits so they have brown rotting patches as they ripen. still,
the edible remainders are pretty good. those which don't have fruit-fly,
that is ;-) i was also getting mad at the birds for getting into them, until
dh pointed out that the birds aren't causing nearly as much damage as the
bugs are. good point.

i'm hoping that next year we'll be having more fruit with fewer problems
(getting informed might help, eh.)
enjoy your peaches!
kylie



Kylie, I wonder if making muslin drawstring bags to hang around the
fruits might work? Muslin would allow the light and air in to swell the
fruits, but would keep out all but the tiniest of creatures. You'd
probably have to put the bags on while the fruits were still small and
green: that is, before the insects got a whiff of them.

I dunno... I've never grown stone fruits, but it might work?

Do you have a Spotlight nearby? They keep muslin of different weights
and also some of the sew-in interfacings would do just as well.

--
Trish {|:-} Newcastle, NSW, Australia