The catalogs are coming so spring can’t be far behind, right?
Well, I can dream, can’t I? My first 2006 garden catalog was stuffed in the mailbox the other day – from Stark’s Nursery. While looking at its colorful pictures of fruit trees and other growing things, hot cocoa in hand, I started thinking once again about growing those Reliance peach trees I’ve been wanting to plant.
I haven’t grown peaches since we moved to Maine. But in Illinois, in a suburb outside of Chicago, I had great success with a Reliance peach tree. This variety is extremely cold hardy, withstanding Chicago’s winds and temperatures that dip way below zero.
I ordered a dwarf-size tree from Stark’s and planted it in decently – but not fanatically – amended soil. It grew nicely the first year and had a few blossoms (that did not result in fruit) the second year.
Then, in its third year, as promised and right on cue, the little-peach-tree-that-could was loaded with fruit. I thinned them out as instructed (too many peaches will snap the branches and will not result in a heavier yield) although it was difficult to make myself pick off more than half of those marble-sized fruits.
By mid-August, that incredible tree bore a huge crop of sweet, tender peaches – peaches so juicy you have to keep wiping the dribble off your chin. We ate some like apples and made cobbler with the rest. Then we moved to Maine, ending my love affair with that peach tree, but not curbing my appetite for more. Maybe this will be the year.
Although it’s true that New England isn’t the first place most people think of for growing peaches, the right variety can do well here. And there’s nothing like a peach fresh off the tree.
Unlike apples and many other fruits, most peach tree varieties are self-fertile, meaning you will get peaches even if you grow only one tree. They bear in as little as three years, are attractive in the landscape and many are disease resistant.
Generally, peach trees are grafted on peach stock, forming a thickened area at the base of the trunk called the graft. While still dormant in the spring, plant one-year-old trees, locating the graft just above the soil line.
The soil should be light – even sandy or gravelly – to provide good drainage, but well amended with organic matter. Make sure the location receives full sun and is not a frost pocket – a microclimate that collects cold air at night. A south or southeast-facing slope is generally best.
If you order a peach tree, you should receive complete instructions for fertilizing, pruning and thinning the fruit.
In the next weeks and months, as I continue to peruse the Stark’s catalog and drool over the others as they arrive, I’m sure I’ll create a long list of “must-haves” written in a notebook, kept handy by my chair. And during those months of cold and snow, I’ll spend hours scaling down the numbers and fine-tuning my selections so when warmer weather comes, I’ll be ready.
Of course, the more I order, the more I’ll have to get in the ground in a timely manner. This year, I’ve resolved to be prepared ahead of time so nothing is wasted; nothing is planted late. Time will tell how well that resolution is kept – and for how long.
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