Farmer-Writer:

Adams County Nursery in PA carries Contender, and may be able to ship you wholesale quantities at an attractive price. I am not sure they ship peaches in fall; that may depend on the climate where you live. Who is your normal supplier for fruit trees? I have never heard that Contender is so popular that it is in short supply.

What are your objectives in planting the Contender peach? I have had one here for 5 years now, and it has been producing for three of those. Contender is an extremely early peach, which gives it some advantages and some disadvantages. It usually escapes bacterial spot and brown rot, and is on the tree for the shorter period so there is less exposure to insect damage. Contender also colors red very early. The peaches on my tree are bright red right now, on July 7, and will be ripe and ready to pick in 10 days.

But very early peaches, while juicy, are far less dense than later varieties, and highly subject to bruising. I would have to say Contender is the most delicate peach I have ever seen for handling, and it keeps only a very short time once off the tree. Early peaches also lack the sweetness and flavor of later varieties, and are somewhat stringy. We usually freeze peaches, but would not try to freeze Contender.

In my orchard, Contender peaches must be picked fully three weeks before Reliance or they will fall from the tree. Reliance is a much better quality peach; denser, sweeter, and better for freezing or marketing. So if you are in a cold climate, and your objective is bud hardiness, it might be better to plant a mix of the two rather than 100% Contender. This would extend your season by several weeks.

The next time you post, please supply your location. This information is helpful to anyone trying to advise you.

I am not dead certain about this, but believe that Adams County also sells the Ginger Gold apple.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don,

Are you certain you have a Contender? Cummins for instance says they are 3 weeks after Redhaven and a week before Elberta. Is that an early peach or is the info all wrong? I am not an expert. I have two trees, a Contender and a REdhaven. They are still fairly young. I like the Contender so far. It is high chill so blooms fairly late. It must be thinned heavily.

Robert

Robert:

My Contender came from Adams County Nursery, which is one of the most professional nurseries I know of. I don't think it would have been mislabeled, but stranger things have happened. At any rate, my "Contender" produces peaches so early they are almost off the charts. And they are not of particularly good quality.

Redhaven is considered the zero for judging the earliness/lateness of all other peaches. I don't recall the exact Redhaven ripening date, but it would be somewhere around the 3rd week of August in my climate.

I have never heard from anyone else who has actually ripened out a Contender and can comment on its ripening date. Mine has now produced three years in a row, so its ripening date is no accident, whatever it is. All of my peaches require very heavy thinning in a normal year.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA