The prettiest peaches I've ever seen are easy to grow without spraying, and great for cooking and preserving! That's the Charlotte Peach Tree! Come into my post to get to know a productive peach tree that might be a good choice for you to grow, too.
There are 3 reasons I really like the Charlotte Peach tree.
Reason 1: Charlotte Peach Trees Are Resistant to Key Diseases
Many varieties of peach trees are vulnerable to diseases. Spraying helps, but that takes time, effort, and real money. I prefer to find fruit tree varieties that do well in my local conditions. Peach leaf curl and bacterial canker are two of the most widespread and troublesome diseases.
Peach leaf curl deforms leaves, stresses the trees, and can even kill them in 2 or 3 years. You can see a peach leaf curl in my post that reviews the Oregon Curlfree Peach.
Bacterial canker is even worse! It kills flower and fruit buds in the spring. And it really saps the strength of the tree in the springtime. It can easily kill a peach tree in only 1 or 2 years. But Charlotte Peach trees are resistant to bacterial canker! There are very few peach trees resistant to canker!
Reason 2: How Charlotte Peach Trees Grow
Charlotte Peach trees can grow tall. Mine is over 12 feet, so it can put on and hold a lot of peaches!
Charlotte Peach trees are beautiful, too. They have the pretty pink flowers of most peaches. But they really shine in the autumn! The leaves are a gorgeous orange color, so outstanding in a landscape, from late summer until the leaves drop in the early fall.
Reason 3: The Quality of the Fruit
Charlotte Peaches are beautiful peaches! Their color is so vivid and gorgeous! And they don't have much fuzz, for folks that don't care for a fuzzy peach.
But how do they taste? With Charlotte Peaches, it all depends on knowing how to pick and handle the fruit.
Tips for Picking Charlotte Peaches
Charlotte peaches ripen so differently than the Oregon Curlfree peaches. If Charlotte peaches are left on the tree until they are soft, they turn mealy and lose flavor. That's a real shame! So I think it's best to harvest Charlotte peaches when they are still hard.
I can tell Charlotte peaches are ripe enough to harvest, when I turn the fruit and it pops right off the branch. Charlotte peaches seem to hit this stage, pretty much all at the same time. That makes them efficient for processing a lot of peaches for later use, like freezing or drying.
But how do they taste? With Charlotte Peaches, it depends on your peach-eating preferences.
Tips for Using Charlotte Peaches
When they are still hard, Charlotte peaches are an acid, tangy peach. They are great for cooking, preserving, slicing, making jam because that tartness and firmness holds up well. But only folks that like a hard, tart peach will enjoy eating them out of hand at this stage. And the skin is hard to peel off -- so different than the Oregon Curlfree peaches!
But there are some real advantages to being able to pick a lot of peaches at the same time, and when they are hard. Charlotte peaches a great peach to take to market or give to friends -- because they travel well when they are hard, and there's no refrigeration required.
In fact, they should not be put in a refrigerator. Charlotte peaches will continue to ripen off the tree. Don't put them in the refrigerator. Let them ripen on the counter.
A couple days later, they are soft at the top, at the shoulder. The peach is softer, and the flavors have gotten more complex. It's still high acid. They are so good and juicy! They are a freestone peach, so the pit comes out easily. They peel easier, too. I enjoy eating them fresh at this stage, for sure!
If you want to watch a live taste-test review of Charlotte peaches -- hard and soft -- I posted a video on YouTube earlier this week - Charlotte Peach Tree Review
Get A Charlotte Peach Tree
I have not seen Charlotte Peach trees show up yet at all, on commonly available lists of recommended varieties put out by Cooperative Extension or Master Gardener programs. But I've been harvesting peaches off this variety for over 5 years, and I really like it as a peach for cooking and preserving. I've only seen them for sale by 2 places: One Green World in Oregon and Rolling River Nursery in California. I'm not affiliated with either place.
What Do You Think?
I hope you get a chance to try the Charlotte Peach sometime -- or enjoy whatever peach grows well in your area!
- Do you prefer peaches that are hard and tart, or soft and sweet?
- What's your favorite kind of peach?
- Do you grow any peach trees or other fruit trees?
- Have you heard of the Charlotte peach?
[1]: Bacterial Canker of Stone Fruit Cooperative Extension, Penn State University
Thanks to @old-guy-photos for the #TreeTuesday tag!
