Peaches
For the best-tasting peaches and those easiest to grow choose 'Reliance', 'Saturn', 'Redhaven', 'Tropic Snow' and 'May Pride.'
Sam Powers learned to grow peaches on his three acres in
Santa Fe, Texas, from reading NAFEX publications; and
asking questions.
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His hot climate allows peaches with a low chill requirement
to develop a medley of complex flavors. His peaches are SO
sumptuous, fans say die fruit Should either have a sin tax
applied or be declared illegal.
More than 50 varieties of peaches, nectarines, apricots and
low-chill plums grew in Sam's orchard, but many were
recently lost to floods. He also grows hot-climate fruits
like jujube, fig, persimmon, papaya Pomegranate, quince,
papaya, loquat and feijoa (pineapple guava).
However, it's his experience with low chill peaches that
has helped other hot-climate fruit growers, most.
Chill hours are when the temperature remains between 32
degrees and 45 degrees. Most nurseries and discount stores
sell higher-chill peaches such as 'La Feliciana' (550 chill
hours) and 'Elberta' (800 chill hours), but in South Texas,
the rapid onset of heat in early spring provides less than
250 chill hours, in every three out of five years.
From Florida breeding programs, he discovered varieties
that were suited for places where spring is brief and
summer comes suddenly. Varieties Such as 'Tropic Sweet,'
'Mid-Pride' and 'May Pride' require only 150 to 200 chill
hours. Their fruit ripens in early to mid-May, before the
arrival of the oppressive Texas summer heat.
After he found varieties that set fruit every year, he
planted them all to test for flavor. "If we like something,
we keep it to eat. The rest is given away: Even the tree
goes."
Sam's quest for the best peaches culminated in his choosing
'Tropic Snow,' a white-fleshed freestone (a variety in
which the flesh separates easily from the pit) with complex
flavor undertones (200 chill hours); 'Tropic Sweet,' a
yellow-fleshed freestone with a zing to its sweetness (150
to 175 chill hours): and 'Flordaglo,' another white-fleshed
freestone with a flower-like flavor (150 chill hours).
His next adventure will be with 'Peento' or doughnut peach,
a white-fleshed clingstone peach with a sunken center.