Peach Harvest

There is an old peachtree on our property that until this year has been more of a nuisance than anything else.  We never really knew how to take care of it. 

The first year it was quite pretty with lots of fruit and the branches grew like mad.  That winter, we didn't prune it back and the peach blossoms in the spring were amazing.  However, as the fruit started to come in it weighed down the lanky branches all the way to the ground and generally made a big mess.  One hot august afternoon Paul and Norm hacked away at all of those low lying branches making a big big mess.  There were rotting peaches everywhere.  The humingbirds came and had a big drunk fest on the fermented nectar :-)  So, the tree was a mangled mess and we didn't touch it that winter as it had been cut back significantly.  The next spring there were blossoms, but there wasn't any fruit.  I imagine the carnage of the past summer sent the tree into shock.

So, this year, with the addition, the peach tree sits right on the edge of the back deck so we have more access to it.  While we didn't prune it in the winter we did trim it back after it flowered.  We pruned all of the branches that were horizontal (or pointing) to the ground...and the peaches have come in beautifully! 

Now i just have to figure out what to do with all of them!!!