Amazing. My uncle grew the variety Dixie Gem as part of his commercial orchards in 1965. This was near the town of Aurora, Oregon.

Although the Auburn article calls it medium-sized, the Dixie Gems I ate were larger than softballs, almost filling a soup bowl. Must have weighed nearly a pound. My uncle did thin his peaches.

larry_gene,

Yes, the Dixie Gem I am talking about are huge and they are meltingly delicious and juicy and boy I want to get my hands on one of those trees.

The U-pick I am speaking of is in Aurora, so maybe it's the same one.

If I recall they were ripe in mid-July.

We used to eat them outside because they made such a juicy mess, you almost had to head straight for the shower to clean up. In 1965 there was no U-pick, just commercial harvest for Elbertas and I think the Dixie Gems were just for family use. In years after, they were obviously getting a larger Dixie crop. I have not been there for many years.

larry_gene,

The trees in this particular orchard are about 25 years old. I know that they were custom grafted. The peaches are very fragile and cannot be shipped. It doesn't sound like the "Dixigem" grown in the South.

I guess it's time to just give up.

TK orchard out of Canby (on Facebook) has Dixi gems.