Texas Peach Handbook

Texas Peach Handbook
By Jim Kamas and Larry Stein
An up-to-date guide for commercial and residential Texas peach growers . . .
With an estimated one million trees producing almost fifty million pounds of fruit per year, Texas is a leading producer of peaches, and several popular seasonal festivals highlight the widespread enjoyment of and interest in this delicious, versatile fruit. In addition, a recent rise of interest in edible gardens and home fruit production has led more people to think about planting a peach tree in the yard — or paying closer attention to the one they already have.
Jim Kamas and Larry Stein, drawing from their many years of experience and the best current research, provide authoritative advice for those who want to improve peach production, whether in a large commercial orchard or on a single tree in the back yard. With discussions ranging from site selection to marketing ideas, Texas Peach Handbook covers the basics of peach cultivation — planting, pruning, fertilizing, watering, protecting, thinning, harvesting — and gives both instruction on disease and insect control and advice on the financial aspects of the peach business. The authors also direct readers to other, more detailed or technical sources, for those who want to learn more about a given topic.
For its complete and useful information and expert guidance, this how-to handbook will prove indispensable for anyone who grows, or wants to grow, peaches either commercially or in the backyard.
A valuable chapter on cultivar and rootstock recommendations for Texas peach growers is essential reading for anyone growing peaches – once the winter chilling hours have been determined.   Lists and descriptions of cling, semi-cling and freestone varieties will help fine tune the selection process.
Jim Kamas, based in Fredericksburg, is assistant professor and extension horticulturist in the department of horticultural sciences, Texas A&M University, and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. He was formerly a research associate in the A&M peach breeding program, has taught undergraduate fruit production classes at Texas A&M University and was a commercial peach grower for ten years in Austin County, Texas.
Larry Stein is professor and extension horticulturist in the department of horticultural sciences, Texas A&M University, and the Texas AgriLife Extension Service. He worked at the Texas AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Stephenville for seven years before moving to Uvalde.
Texas Peach Handbook
By Jim Kamas and Larry Stein
Texas A&M University Press
Copyright 2011
Flexbound, 147 pages, $24.95 USD

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