Redskin Peaches

This is another peach I have not previously seen. The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs is fairly terse about them, saying only: " A medium-sized, good-quality, late ripening freestone with fairly good colour. Trees tend to be somewhat willowy, but are very productive." I'd say that's damning them with faint praise, myself. I don't think they are quite so super-spectacular as the Harrow Beauty, but they are very good indeed, with similar richly coloured flesh and red-flushed skins. They are not so intense in flavour or scent, and they are perhaps a little softer. The skins seem a little thicker and furrier, but I don't mind that; it's part of the peach experience, and the skins aren't tough.

I suppose I should remind myself that one of the reasons I am raving about tree fruit this year is that it has been a very good year for them. There was considerable fear that this might not be the case last winter, when it did not get cold until so late that many trees were showing signs of budding in December and early January; after which the arrival of winter would have destroyed them. Fortunately, winter arrived in the nick of time and they retreated to dormancy. This summer has been rather dry, which has caused problems with other crops, but created dense, richly flavoured stone fruits. Peaches from cool, rainy summers tend to be bigger, but blander and they may be mealy; always a big, big disappointment when that happens.