Stellar Peach Breeding Program
A Message from Annette on October 25, 2022.
Fruit Acres Farm Market & U-Pick is closed for the season. We will be open again in June 2023 when Local Strawberries are ready for sale. Depending on the weather, we will open approximately June 16, 2023.
Other U-Pick Farms you can visit now through early November:
U-Pick Concord Grapes and Apples : Prillwitz Fruit Farm at 7196 E. Main St., Eau Claire, MI 49111. Phone (269) 461-6720.
U-Pick Apples: Overhiser Orchards at 6405 109th Avenue, South Haven, MI. Phone (269) 236-6312
Please look below
for more information.
Stellar Peach Breeding Program
NEW VARIETIES FOR THE 21st CENTURY
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Great Flavor for Fresh Market
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Large Size
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Round Shape
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Red Skin Color
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Firm Flesh
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Developed through Hand Cross-Pollination NOT Genetically Engineered
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Excellent Storage Quality
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Excellent Handling & Shipping Quality
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Very Winter Hardy
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High Bud Density
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Bacterial Spot Resistance
Stellar Peach Varieties
(Varieties Listed in Ripening Order)
Earlystar (-16)
Earlystar ripens 16 days before Red Haven and is a very attractive round fruit with no tip. With a beautiful 80% dark red color, this peach sizes at 2 1/2" and up. Earlystar's firm flesh is bright yellow with minimal fibers and has great flavor. It is semi-freestone, meaning it has been completely freestone some years and very clingy in other years, and has very few split pits. Tree is medium vigor and precocious for early production, so thin early. Earlystar is a wonderful first peach for early season roadside or farm market stands.
Brightstar (-12)
Brightstar ripens 12 days before Red Haven and is a great peach for early season roadside stands and farmer's markets. Customers return year after year because of the outstanding flavor of this semi-freestone, firm fleshed peach. Brightstar sizes at 2 1/2" and up and has very few split pits. It also has good bacterial spot resistance.
Risingstar (-7)
Ripens 5-7 days before Red Haven. Risingstar gives growers a beautiful, high quality peach for the early season. Fruit is 80% bright orange-red, with a slight stripe, firm and averages 2 1/2" and larger. The flesh is firm and melting with a pleasing sugar-acid ratio. Risingstar is non-browning and semi-freestone. This excellent cropper has very few split pits and matures between Garnet Beauty and Red Haven. It will require diligent thinning most years because of its very hardy buds and blossoms. The tree is of medium vigor, hardy and productive with good resistance to bacterial spot and peach canker. Risingstar is very uniform in size and coloring, blooms late with Red Haven, and matures in 2 to 3 pickings.
Star 105 ( -3 days) is a great Freestone that comes about 3 days before Red Haven Peaches. It can be used for canning, freezing, baking and eating just like a Red Haven but it just ripens a few days earlier.
Redstar (+1)
Ripens after Red Haven and is a large, round, very beautiful peach with 80% rich red color over a subtle striped background. The flesh is medium yellow with wonderful flavor. The 2 3/4 to 3" fruits are firm for shipping and have a slight attachment to the pit, similar to Red Haven, with very few split pits. Redstar blooms late with Red Haven, and the tree is spreading and very hardy and productive with good resistance to canker and bacterial spot. In a graded basket, well colored Red Haven and Redstar look alike. Redstar is a great Red Haven replacement.
Blazingstar (+3)
Blazingstar is a round, very firm-fleshed peach that ripens at the end of Red Haven season. It is 80% blazing red with delicious, non-browning, yellow flesh. The fruit is freestone, sizes 2 1/2" with a small pit, picks dry without tearing and has good shipping qualities. The Blazingstar tree is hardy, upright, spreading and strong with an excellent cropping history. This new extension to Red Haven season is resistant to bacterial and has great bud hardiness, almost assuring annual cropping. The flavor is sweeter than Starfire but a little smaller fruit.
Starfire (+3) Red Haven Season Peach
Starfire is a heavy annual cropper that provides high tonnage per acre with a few pickings. It has large 2 1/2" to 2 3/4", 80% bright orangish-red fruit that ripens after Red Haven. The flesh is clear yellow with some red around a small pit. Starfire has great shipping qualities and firmness. It is a very consistent cropper. The tree is strong, spreading and very hardy with excellent resistance to bacterial spot and canker. Very good flavor. This variety is a real star. Peach breeder Randy Bjorge says Starfire is his favorite peach because it produces bushels and bushels of fruit and the tree is great!
Coralstar (+12)
Coralstar® is a large, beautiful, 3", freestone peach with 80% coral red fruit that matures with Loring. The flesh is firm and clear with wonderful sweet flavor. Coralstar® holds well on the tree and in the cooler and does not brown when cut. Its size and quality make it a star for local sale or shipping. It ripens with multiple pickings over a long period and will produce heavy tonnage per acre. The tree is hardy and resistant to bacterial spot.
Allstar (+14) Best Packing Peach Grower Friendly Tree
Allstar matures before Cresthaven with a beautiful 90% bright red skin color with clear, non-browning yellow flesh. The peach is large, 2 1/2" to 3", and firm with good shipping and storage qualities. Very good sweet/acid peach flavor. It will keep for several weeks in the cooler. Allstar has a medium-size, stocky tree with very hardy buds for high yields per acre. The fruit and tree are very resistant to bacterial spot. Allstar is the favorite peach of the Stellar series being planted in the Niagra Peninsula of Canada.
Sweetstar (+18) (Annette's Favorite)
Sweetstar earned its name because it has the highest Brix level of any of the Stellar Peaches. It is larger and sweeter than Allstar & redder and sweeter than Coralstar. It has some resistant to bacterial spot and is a productive, consistently cropping tree. Sweetstar has been grown commercially for 20 years and has been the favorite among returning u-pick customers.
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Blushingstar (+21) White Flesh
An incredible new high-quality white flesh peach, Blushingstar ships and stores very well. The flesh is firm enough to pick, pack, store and ship just like the other Stellar yellow flesh peaches. It colors about 80% deep pinkish-red with a white ground color and average 2 3/4". It has the unique wonderful distinctive full flavor of an extra sweet white flesh peach plus a penetrating, pleasing aroma. The flesh is white, tinged with pink and does not brown when cut. Blushingstar is completely freestone and ripens with Cresthaven. Blushingstar sets very heavy crops and must be thinned to achieve desired size as is true of all the Stellar peaches. The tree is consistently heavy producing, very hardy and open growing with some resistance to bacterial spot. This is the favorite eating peach of most of the workers on our farm. Blushingstar has been very easy to sell at our farm market because the customers come back year after year especially for this peach.
Glowingstar (+25)
Glowingstar matures in early Cresthaven season. It is a large uniform ripening peach that is 60% dark red with a bright yellow background and excellent flavor. The fruit is extra large at 2 3/4" to 3 1/4", firm, yellow and non-browning, with excellent shipping qualities and it stores well in the cooler. Glowingstar is completely freestone and hangs well on the tree even when it is completely ripe. It is a very grower-friendly peach because you can tell by looking when it is firm ripe. When the fruit is not mature, there is a large suture on it. When the suture fills out the fruit is ready to pick for grading and shipping. The tree is strong, vigorous and resistant to bacterial spot.
Star 86 is a old variety we have had for years but are going to name it in the next year. It is a Glowingstar replacement. We are hoping to name is Rockstar but we don't know if that name can be used yet. 86 is a large, red, round , sweet peach that is the last really good variety before the late varieties. It is great for canning, freezing, baking and eating. It will store well in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.
Autumnstar (+42)
Autumnstar has been tested in several locations across the world for several years. It is a large peach at 2 3/4" to 3 1/4", round, 70-80% blushed red peach that ripens 47 days after Red Haven or 6 days after Encore. Autumnstar has shown exceptional bud and tree hardiness and excellent eating and shipping qualities for any season but there is nothing like it in this late late season. It has better fruit color, flavor and much better tree than Fayette or Encore. Autumnstar is a great way to extend your peach season.
Welcome to Fruit Acres Farm Market
& U-Pick
A Note from Annette and Randy: Friday, July 1, 2022
At the Farm Market, we have Local Sweet Red or Black Raspberries, Our Own Black Sweet Cherries ($5.99 lb), Local Sweet Blueberries, Arkansas Tomatoes, Local Michigan Sugar Snap Peas, Snow Peas, Zuchini, and Herb Plants.
Farm Market Address 3452 Friday Road, Coloma, MI. I-94 Easy Off Easy On at Exit #39.
Fruit Acres U-Pick still has Black Sweet Cherries & Rainier Sweet Cherries & Gold Sweet Cherries and Montmorency Sour Pie Cherries on the tree for you to pick yourself. I still have lots of Sweet Cherries for you to pick off the tree. When you enter the cashier area, go right and keep on going over the hill until you see the Black Sweet cherries on the tree. Rainier Cherries are very pink color now and they are in the top of the tree. Gold Cherries are all in one section almost to the end of the orchard (on the road side of orchard). There are Sweet Cherries out there to pick, but you have to walk over the hill to get to them. We are open 10am to 5pm (Michigan Time), That is 9 to 4 Illinois time. Closed July 4 for U-Pic. Sweet Cherries are $4.99 pound, and Sour Cherries are $1.49 per pound. U-Pic Cherry Address is 6299 Carmody Road, Coloma MI. NO BACKPACKS OR BIG BAGS ALLOWED IN ORCHARD. NO BREAKING BRANCHES OFF THE TREES!! That is where the cherries grow next year. NO CLIMBING TREES, (you may hurt yourself or the tree). There is NO admission being charged anymore this year. We will be having Sour Cherry U-Pic through July 10 (we hope), but the Sweet Cherries U-Pic is going day by day. Check back for updates. Our farm market is open July 4 to buy any cherries you want, but not to pick them.
Fruit Acres still has Black Sweet Cherries and Rainier Sweet Cherries on the tree, now through Sunday, for you to pick yourself. The sooner you come to pick the better, because once they get picked, they do not grow back. There is no more admission this year. $4.99 pound for the Sweet Cherries you take with you. Open everyday from 10 to 5 Michigan time. The U-Pic is Closed on Monday 7/4. You can always buy Black Sweet Cherries already picked at the market for $5.99 pound.
Montmorency Red Sour Pie Cherries are ready now! Sour Cherries are $1.49 pound (if you pick or if I pick them). Sour Cherry season is now to Sunday July 10 (I hope). These cherries are for pies or liquor, most people do not eat them raw.
Parking for U-Pick Cherries is at 6299 Carmody Road, Coloma, MI.
This year I am starting a Email Newsletter, so if you want the most up to date information sent to your email, please sign up for the newsletter (after I set it up). This is the most reliable way of making sure the information is delivered to you every week. But now I am trying to learn how to design and start it. It is alot more complicated than I thought it would be. I am sorry but I am having problems getting this going, Technology does not like me. I will have it figured out soon.