My 'Dixieland' peach went from being a two foot whip to a 10 foot tree in two
seasons, loaded with peaches which are about 3 inches in diameter, some larger.
The trouble is leaving them on long enough to get their golden color. Yum.

And the squirrels, they take a bite of each. Eh.

Lucky you. We had more than half of our peaches destroyed by racoons, possums,
and/or birds. The few we managed to eat were amazing though. Red Baron, btw.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 03:31:20 +0000 (UTC), (Victor M.
Martinez) wrote:

Lucky you. We had more than half of our peaches destroyed by racoons, possums,
and/or birds. The few we managed to eat were amazing though. Red Baron, btw.

Os that a freestone or a cling? I'm going to plant another peach on the
property. I am in love with peaches, especially if I know they grew in our soil
with out worms, our compost and our nurture.

I have two apple trees as well, but I think they will take much longer to start
to produce fruit, say, five years.

If I do have two peach trees, there will be plenty for all the creatures and me.
I'm the only one who eats them. Mark doesn't like them. They are softball
size. I can't believe how well they did. That Revitilizer compost truly is
magical, and now that I brew aerobic tea, it's even more magical.

V

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 03:31:20 +0000 (UTC), (Victor M.
Martinez) wrote:

Lucky you. We had more than half of our peaches destroyed by racoons, possums,
and/or birds. The few we managed to eat were amazing though. Red Baron, btw.

Os that a freestone or a cling? I'm going to plant another peach on the
property. I am in love with peaches, especially if I know they grew in our soil
with out worms, our compost and our nurture.

I have two apple trees as well, but I think they will take much longer to start
to produce fruit, say, five years.

If I do have two peach trees, there will be plenty for all the creatures and me.
I'm the only one who eats them. Mark doesn't like them. They are softball
size. I can't believe how well they did. That Revitilizer compost truly is
magical, and now that I brew aerobic tea, it's even more magical.

V

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 03:31:20 +0000 (UTC), (Victor M.
Martinez) wrote:

Lucky you. We had more than half of our peaches destroyed by racoons, possums,
and/or birds. The few we managed to eat were amazing though. Red Baron, btw.

Os that a freestone or a cling? I'm going to plant another peach on the
property. I am in love with peaches, especially if I know they grew in our soil
with out worms, our compost and our nurture.

I have two apple trees as well, but I think they will take much longer to start
to produce fruit, say, five years.

If I do have two peach trees, there will be plenty for all the creatures and me.
I'm the only one who eats them. Mark doesn't like them. They are softball
size. I can't believe how well they did. That Revitilizer compost truly is
magical, and now that I brew aerobic tea, it's even more magical.

V

animaux wrote:
Os that a freestone or a cling? I'm going to plant another peach on the
property. I am in love with peaches, especially if I know they grew in our soil

Hmmm... cling, but not too clingy... Amazingly beautiful flowers though,
highly recommended.


--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:38:20 GMT, animaux
wrote:

My 'Dixieland' peach ...

and, On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 03:31:20 +0000 (UTC),
(Victor M. Martinez) wrote:

Red Baron, btw.

I'd like to add one or more late-maturing peaches to our yard since we
missed out on a peach crop the last two years because of mid-March
freezes.

I've just done a non-exhaustive search on your two varieties and
haven't found whether they are available as a dwarf or semi-dwarf? Can
either of you help?

David

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 15:09:59 +0000 (UTC), (Victor M.
Martinez) wrote:

animaux wrote:
Os that a freestone or a cling? I'm going to plant another peach on the
property. I am in love with peaches, especially if I know they grew in our soil

Hmmm... cling, but not too clingy... Amazingly beautiful flowers though,
highly recommended.

Tell me again what the variety was???

I like amazingly beautiful flowers of the early fruit trees. Last year I hand
pollinated our tree and we had to do some major thinning.

v

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 16:29:33 GMT, David Wright wrote:

On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:38:20 GMT, animaux
wrote:

My 'Dixieland' peach ...

and, On Fri, 18 Jul 2003 03:31:20 +0000 (UTC),
(Victor M. Martinez) wrote:

Red Baron, btw.

I'd like to add one or more late-maturing peaches to our yard since we
missed out on a peach crop the last two years because of mid-March
freezes.

I've just done a non-exhaustive search on your two varieties and
haven't found whether they are available as a dwarf or semi-dwarf? Can
either of you help?

David

You can dwarf them if you choose to. I believe it's rather easy to keep these
in bounds. The 'Dixieland' has a rating of 400 chill hours.

Why do you need dwarf? Room issues?

V

David Wright wrote:
I've just done a non-exhaustive search on your two varieties and
haven't found whether they are available as a dwarf or semi-dwarf? Can
either of you help?

I've never seen a peach variety that was available as "standard" and dwarf.
But you can prune the peaches to be quite short. What is your controlling
variable?
BTW, avoid fruit trees from Park Place, they've had the same trees in the
sand for a couple of years now.


--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

animaux wrote:
Tell me again what the variety was???

Red baron. Very beautiful, double blooms, dark red/fuscia color.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv

On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 22:19:03 +0000 (UTC), (Victor M.
Martinez) wrote:

I've never seen a peach variety that was available as "standard" and dwarf.
But you can prune the peaches to be quite short. What is your controlling
variable?
BTW, avoid fruit trees from Park Place, they've had the same trees in the
sand for a couple of years now.

Yeah, I know that and noticed it a few years ago. I don't like to rag on the
local garden centers, but at least one of the employees there gave such horrible
information to a customer that I had to follow the customer out to the parking
lot and give him another explanation.

They do have a good selection of salvia's and some harder to find herbs, but I
don't buy anything from them unless it's in a 4" pot and I can see no root bound
signals.

V

Where did you buy your peach trees, and what size were they when you planted
them? How deep and wide was the hole for planting, and did you plant with
any additives? Our soil is extremely alkaline, and I think fruit trees need
acid, don't they?

We have raccoons, possums, squirrels and deer, not to mention the blue jays!
How do you protect the young trees from these "critters" until they are
strong enough to make it on their own?

Many thanks!

Scarlett

--


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
FIGHT BACK AGAINST SPAM!
Download Spam Inspector, the Award Winning Anti-Spam Filter
http://mail.giantcompany.com


"animaux" wrote in message
news | On Sat, 19 Jul 2003 22:19:03 +0000 (UTC), (Victor M.
| Martinez) wrote:
|
| I've never seen a peach variety that was available as "standard" and
dwarf.
| But you can prune the peaches to be quite short. What is your controlling
| variable?
| BTW, avoid fruit trees from Park Place, they've had the same trees in the
| sand for a couple of years now.
|
| Yeah, I know that and noticed it a few years ago. I don't like to rag on
the
| local garden centers, but at least one of the employees there gave such
horrible
| information to a customer that I had to follow the customer out to the
parking
| lot and give him another explanation.
|
| They do have a good selection of salvia's and some harder to find herbs,
but I
| don't buy anything from them unless it's in a 4" pot and I can see no root
bound
| signals.
|
| V

I bought our two apple trees bare root at The Natural Gardener. 'Mollies
Delicious' and 'Granny Smith.'

The peach 'Dixieland' I bought at Lowes. It was in a three or five gallon pot,
I forget now. It was not leafed out, but it was in pink bud stage. I planted
it immediately and I'd say it was about two feet tall after I pruned it the way
Dromgoole recommends. It was painful, but I did it. Read more about his method
at www.naturalgardeneraustin.com

As for soil, I don't know what pH they like, but if my soil is not right for
fruit trees, you sure can't tell by the trees! The peach is now well over 10
feet tall and about 15 feet wide at the drip line. The apples are struggling
through their first year, but by next year will have a substantial root system.

To prepare the hole I dug it out three times the diameter of the container.
First I lain the top soil to the side on a tarp, then I removed the next layers
on another tarp. I jagged up the hole so nothing was smooth I loosened the soil
at the bottom with a rod of rebar. I dropped a small amount of compost down in
the holes at the bottom. When the tree was still in the container I watered it
and kept watering it over and over to make sure every tiny root hair was fully
engorged with water and only then did I place it in the hole. I lain the
straight piece of bamboo at the top of the hole to be sure I would not plant the
tree too deeply. It's always better to plant it not deep enough, than to plant
it deeper than it is while in the container. I put some soil where the tree was
to be placed, packed that down a bit, made sure the tree was a bit above ground
level so when the water settled the soil the tree would not be too deep.

After the tree is placed and esthetics were taken into consideration as to how
to place it, I replaced ONLY the soil I removed. First the top of the pile of
lower layers and the top soil back on top of that. Then I placed a three inch
layer of compost, and on top of that a few inches of mulch. That's why I didn't
care if the tree was planted too high. Matter of fact, I prefer that method. I
did not trample the soil, but let a very slow soaker hose do that for me. I
let it very slowly trickle for about three hours.

Now I have about 200 peaches on that one tree, three seasons in the ground.

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 17:08:39 GMT, "Scarlett" wrote:

Where did you buy your peach trees, and what size were they when you planted
them? How deep and wide was the hole for planting, and did you plant with
any additives? Our soil is extremely alkaline, and I think fruit trees need
acid, don't they?

We have raccoons, possums, squirrels and deer, not to mention the blue jays!
How do you protect the young trees from these "critters" until they are
strong enough to make it on their own?

Many thanks!

Scarlett

I bought our two apple trees bare root at The Natural Gardener. 'Mollies
Delicious' and 'Granny Smith.'

The peach 'Dixieland' I bought at Lowes. It was in a three or five gallon pot,
I forget now. It was not leafed out, but it was in pink bud stage. I planted
it immediately and I'd say it was about two feet tall after I pruned it the way
Dromgoole recommends. It was painful, but I did it. Read more about his method
at www.naturalgardeneraustin.com

As for soil, I don't know what pH they like, but if my soil is not right for
fruit trees, you sure can't tell by the trees! The peach is now well over 10
feet tall and about 15 feet wide at the drip line. The apples are struggling
through their first year, but by next year will have a substantial root system.

To prepare the hole I dug it out three times the diameter of the container.
First I lain the top soil to the side on a tarp, then I removed the next layers
on another tarp. I jagged up the hole so nothing was smooth I loosened the soil
at the bottom with a rod of rebar. I dropped a small amount of compost down in
the holes at the bottom. When the tree was still in the container I watered it
and kept watering it over and over to make sure every tiny root hair was fully
engorged with water and only then did I place it in the hole. I lain the
straight piece of bamboo at the top of the hole to be sure I would not plant the
tree too deeply. It's always better to plant it not deep enough, than to plant
it deeper than it is while in the container. I put some soil where the tree was
to be placed, packed that down a bit, made sure the tree was a bit above ground
level so when the water settled the soil the tree would not be too deep.

After the tree is placed and esthetics were taken into consideration as to how
to place it, I replaced ONLY the soil I removed. First the top of the pile of
lower layers and the top soil back on top of that. Then I placed a three inch
layer of compost, and on top of that a few inches of mulch. That's why I didn't
care if the tree was planted too high. Matter of fact, I prefer that method. I
did not trample the soil, but let a very slow soaker hose do that for me. I
let it very slowly trickle for about three hours.

Now I have about 200 peaches on that one tree, three seasons in the ground.

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 17:08:39 GMT, "Scarlett" wrote:

Where did you buy your peach trees, and what size were they when you planted
them? How deep and wide was the hole for planting, and did you plant with
any additives? Our soil is extremely alkaline, and I think fruit trees need
acid, don't they?

We have raccoons, possums, squirrels and deer, not to mention the blue jays!
How do you protect the young trees from these "critters" until they are
strong enough to make it on their own?

Many thanks!

Scarlett