
Even though the peach was very small (about the size of a racquet ball), it was well colored, so I gave it a little squeeze. It was soft, and the flesh yielded gently to my touch. I picked it and examined it carefully for bug damage. It had several blemishes on the top, and I almost pitched it in the compost pile. Now I'm glad I didn't! I brought it in and cut it up, removing all the damaged flesh. The smell was wonderful! Growing up, I always thought peaches were supposed to be crunchy. I never knew just how delicious a soft, perfectly ripe peach could be until Dr. Wife introduced me to some real Georgia peaches. After all the damaged flesh was removed, there was only enough left for everyone to taste just a little bit. I took the precious golden fruit upstairs to share it with everyone.
The boys just loved it! Boy #1 kept asking for more, and Boy #2 relished his piece for 20 minutes. I thought it was absolutely delicious! It was soft and melting, very sweet, with a very nice flavor. The flesh was yellow, and clung to the seed (clingstone). I just wish I had more to share, and that the peach had been bigger. I don't know if the size of the fruit was so small because of the bug damage, or because perhaps the tree needed more water during fruit development. Regardless, the fruit was good enough that I will definitely do whatever it takes to get some more next year. There's one green peach still hanging on the Midpride, that so far doesn't appear to have any insect damage. I'll keep a close eye on it, and hopefully we'll be eating it soon. There's also one small Santa Rosa plum on the tree out front that is slowly turning red. Maybe my bad luck with stone fruits is turning around.