Hey, I’m Desmond Layne, Peach Specialist at Clemson University. Welcome to the Clemson Tiger Peach Network.
Welcome back to “Everything About Grapefruits” – I mean, really large peaches. Today is July 20, 2011 and it is a blistering hot day up here in Chesnee, SC at James Cooley’s farm where I have my variety test block. This is our second season of “Everything About Peaches”. This summer’s series is called “Peach Picks for South Carolina”. Every week throughout the entire growing season we’re featuring those cultivars that perform extremely well here in “The Tastier Peach” state.
You know when it comes to peaches, your favorite doesn’t last very long. In fact, most cultivars, we’re looking at a two-week harvest window. As you remember last week we featured Winblo which is my personal favorite. Its your traditional Southern peach. Its got yellow flesh, it melts in your mouth, sweet and juicy with some tanginess to it – super delicious!
Well, the next variety in sequence after Winblo that is really excellent is called Julyprince. Julyprince has many of the same traits that Winblo does but one thing that is a little bit different is that it is even bigger. Its very much known for its size.
In our Clemson University research trials over the last several years, the performance of Julyprince has been excellent. Julyprince was developed by the United States Department of Agriculture in Byron, Georgia. The breeder was Dr. Dick Okie. It was released to the public in 2008. Because it is a public release, you can freely propagate it.
Julyprince is a consistently large peach. It averages between 3 and 3 inches in diameter and that is really excellent for a peach this time of the year. It has a nice, yellow background color and red overcolor or blush that gives it that really attractive combination to make it a very pretty peach. It has a very nice, uniform, round shape. When you cut through the skin into the flesh you can see that its’ got yellow flesh. There is also some red pigmentation in the flesh. Its nothing to worry about – those are anthocyanin pigments which are excellent antioxidants making it a health benefit for you. Its also freestone and its melting flesh type.
If you remember last week when I tasted Winblo, I was sort of knocked off my feet. When you’re head over heels in love for something, it’s hard to imagine that you could find something that would be as good or even better. So let’s see how Julyprince tastes. Wow, mmmm, that is delicious! Sweet, juicy, if I was to eat some more of it, it would be dripping off my elbows! In fact, it’s the sweat right now that’s dripping off my elbows! This is a very nice peach. Its got all the things you’re looking for in a summertime treat.
Why don’t you join us next week when we’ll feature another “Peach Pick for South Carolina”. You know, making these videos is a whole lot of fun because of course I have to taste all of these peaches in the process. Since we make lots of mistakes while we’re recording it, I get to taste them lots of times! Anyway, being a peach specialist … it’s a rough job, mmmm, but somebody’s got to do it!
