Veteran is an heirloom peach which is famous for its cold-hardiness, growing where other peaches won’t. In fact, we’ve heard it is one of the most cold-hardy peaches in existence… Well, in known existence anyway.
It has a good taste for a northern peach, and is good for fresh eating, canning, and baking. It is medium in size, ripening in mid to late August. It is a freestone peach. Northern peaches aren’t as sweet as southern peaches when eaten fresh, but they tend to sweeten up a bit when cooked or canned.
This peach tree needs 1000 hours of chill before it will bloom, so it won’t set fruit in warmer areas. It likes geographic locations with winters that kind of “hang on”. So, don’t order this tree as a present for your aunt in Florida.
Veteran is self-fertile, so you will not have to have a pollinator. However, having other varieties of peaches does help the trees set more fruit, and often the fruit is larger.
As with all peaches, we recommend that you prune it yearly. You’ll want to keep 1′ to 3′ of new growth per year.
