I don't pick my peaches till they are golden and soft to the touch. I gently
press and if it gives easily, I pick it. Many people think peaches are ripe
when they are that reddish color. Not so. Peaches are ripe with the skin turns
a golden yellow and are soft to the touch. Now, I did canning and lots of it,
so I have tons of peaches to work with, but I never pull a peach off before it
is fully ripened on the tree. They cannot be beat. I have no idea what the
commercial growers do. They may be using synthetic methods to ripen the fruit
on a schedule in a chamber of sorts. I know they pick peaches before they are
soft, but just after they color up.

When a peach from the store is mealy, it's because they probably froze at some
point.

Victoria

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:42:43 -0400, "NEWS.INDIVIDUAL.NET"
opined:

Living in Central Virginia (just east of the Shenandoah Valley). I have an
approximately 3-4 yo Elberta peach I planted, and it's doing OK, but I
noticed that the fruit is "rubbery". It's sweet enough, but the texture of
the flesh is "tough". As a novice with fruit trees, I'm never quite sure
exactly when to pick them to avoid either under or over-ripe fruit. It's
tough enough fighting the deer for them as it is, so I want to try to get
them at their peak of ripeness if it's at all possible.

This is a big peach growing area, so I'm OK there, I think, and the local
commercial growers are selling them right and left and they are wonderful.
Have I just waited too long to pick mine? That is, did I leave it on the
tree too long? Not long enough? The ones I got from a grower can go for more
than a few days after being picked to soften a bit, but they are never
tough, quite the contrary.

Any ideas??

TIA






Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html

"escapee" wrote in message
...
I don't pick my peaches till they are golden and soft to the touch. I
gently
press and if it gives easily, I pick it.

Mine were not hard like an unripe peach, they were actually rubbery, which
is why I asked. I haven't ever seen this before in a peach, whether from my
little tree or the local growers. A distinctly odd texture!

Many people think peaches are ripe
when they are that reddish color. Not so. Peaches are ripe with the skin
turns
a golden yellow and are soft to the touch.

The color was right, and it was neither mushy nor hard, but it was a little
bit closer to hard than soft. Not all THAT much, tho, and it tasted, well,
just "peachy" to coin a cliche I even let it sit on the counter for a
day or two--that shouldn't have made a difference, I wouldn't think? I do
the same with the local growers' fruits and this never happens with them.

Now, I did canning and lots of it,
so I have tons of peaches to work with, but I never pull a peach off
before it
is fully ripened on the tree. They cannot be beat. I have no idea what
the
commercial growers do. They may be using synthetic methods to ripen the
fruit
on a schedule in a chamber of sorts. I know they pick peaches before they
are
soft, but just after they color up.

Our local growers sell fresh picked peaches directly to the consumers at
their own fruit stand, or you can pick them yourself (we don't). They are
taken directly from the tree to the stand (we've seen them) so while I agree
some growers do other stuff, these don't, at least for the ones at the
stand.

When a peach from the store is mealy, it's because they probably froze at
some
point.

Ah! I always wondered what caused that! Interesting! I've gotten to the
point now that I *never* buy them in the store, because no matter how nice
they look, I've always been disappointed We just load up in the summer
now direct from the orchards.

Thanks!

elaine

Victoria

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:42:43 -0400, "NEWS.INDIVIDUAL.NET"
opined:

Living in Central Virginia (just east of the Shenandoah Valley). I have
an
approximately 3-4 yo Elberta peach I planted, and it's doing OK, but I
noticed that the fruit is "rubbery". It's sweet enough, but the texture
of
the flesh is "tough". As a novice with fruit trees, I'm never quite sure
exactly when to pick them to avoid either under or over-ripe fruit. It's
tough enough fighting the deer for them as it is, so I want to try to get
them at their peak of ripeness if it's at all possible.

This is a big peach growing area, so I'm OK there, I think, and the local
commercial growers are selling them right and left and they are
wonderful.
Have I just waited too long to pick mine? That is, did I leave it on the
tree too long? Not long enough? The ones I got from a grower can go for
more
than a few days after being picked to soften a bit, but they are never
tough, quite the contrary.

Any ideas??

TIA






Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html

it might be lack of water during growing. maybe some other nutrient? Ingrid

"EPPack" wrote:

"escapee" wrote in message
.. .
I don't pick my peaches till they are golden and soft to the touch. I
gently
press and if it gives easily, I pick it.

Mine were not hard like an unripe peach, they were actually rubbery, which
is why I asked. I haven't ever seen this before in a peach, whether from my
little tree or the local growers. A distinctly odd texture!

Many people think peaches are ripe
when they are that reddish color. Not so. Peaches are ripe with the skin
turns
a golden yellow and are soft to the touch.

The color was right, and it was neither mushy nor hard, but it was a little
bit closer to hard than soft. Not all THAT much, tho, and it tasted, well,
just "peachy" to coin a cliche I even let it sit on the counter for a
day or two--that shouldn't have made a difference, I wouldn't think? I do
the same with the local growers' fruits and this never happens with them.

Now, I did canning and lots of it,
so I have tons of peaches to work with, but I never pull a peach off
before it
is fully ripened on the tree. They cannot be beat. I have no idea what
the
commercial growers do. They may be using synthetic methods to ripen the
fruit
on a schedule in a chamber of sorts. I know they pick peaches before they
are
soft, but just after they color up.

Our local growers sell fresh picked peaches directly to the consumers at
their own fruit stand, or you can pick them yourself (we don't). They are
taken directly from the tree to the stand (we've seen them) so while I agree
some growers do other stuff, these don't, at least for the ones at the
stand.

When a peach from the store is mealy, it's because they probably froze at
some
point.

Ah! I always wondered what caused that! Interesting! I've gotten to the
point now that I *never* buy them in the store, because no matter how nice
they look, I've always been disappointed We just load up in the summer
now direct from the orchards.

Thanks!

elaine

Victoria

On Thu, 19 Aug 2004 13:42:43 -0400, "NEWS.INDIVIDUAL.NET"
opined:

Living in Central Virginia (just east of the Shenandoah Valley). I have
an
approximately 3-4 yo Elberta peach I planted, and it's doing OK, but I
noticed that the fruit is "rubbery". It's sweet enough, but the texture
of
the flesh is "tough". As a novice with fruit trees, I'm never quite sure
exactly when to pick them to avoid either under or over-ripe fruit. It's
tough enough fighting the deer for them as it is, so I want to try to get
them at their peak of ripeness if it's at all possible.

This is a big peach growing area, so I'm OK there, I think, and the local
commercial growers are selling them right and left and they are
wonderful.
Have I just waited too long to pick mine? That is, did I leave it on the
tree too long? Not long enough? The ones I got from a grower can go for
more
than a few days after being picked to soften a bit, but they are never
tough, quite the contrary.

Any ideas??

TIA






Need a good, cheap, knowledge expanding present for yourself or a friend?
http://www.animaux.net/stern/present.html




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