We've had a time with our peach trees. It's been an uphill battle. A few years ago, when the trees were quite young, we harvested a few beautiful peaches that were every bit as juicy and sweet as they looked. Since then, though, killing frosts have taken a toll; despite Mr. G. staying up all night long to mist the trees with the garden hose. Last year we had, what appeared to be, a bumper crop ripening to perfection; apparently the deer thought so too. They wiped out every. single. one. just before they were ready for picking! This year we decided to get the jump on any of that activity and purchased a net to cover the tree and the countless baby peaches adorning every branch.
It was a bit of a task actually placing the net over the tree but we managed. All was well, or so we thought. A few weeks ago, when I was walking out to the mailbox I noticed that the peach tree was GONE, it had dropped out of sight! I stepped around the hedge along the side of the driveway to discover that the tree had actually broken off! The trunk was lying at a right angle, about a foot and a half off the ground, and the remainder of the tree, wrapped securely in its netting was resting on the grass. It was a sad and shocking sight. We don't know if it was the weight of the fruit on the tree or if the saturated netting from a rainstorm the night before was simply too much or if it was a combination of the two. But, whatever occurred, the tree had given up. While the tree's trunk wasn't completely severed, the fruit is continuing to ripen while on the ground-level branches and I'm picking out what I can. We're beginning to enjoy the peaches now, they're small, but good. I'd dare to say that our days as fruit farmers are over; however, wasn't Martin Luther credited with the following: "even if I knew that tomorrow the world would fall to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree"? So, who knows? Hope springs eternal! Maybe we’ll give it another go.
Life is Good!
...and oh, so sweet...
🍑
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