Peach Trees and Blue Skies

One of the first things we do on the farm in the spring (other than starting onions and lettuce in the greenhouse) is prune the peach trees!

Even though we only have 3.5 acres of peaches it's still a big job but one that's absolutely necessary for happy trees and delicious peaches.  Pruning does a few things: it removes any dead or diseased branches, encourages new growth, and encourages air flow and sunlight through out the tree.  One of the greatest defenses against disease and bugs is having good air movement.

Fun fact: peaches are ideally supposed to look like an upside-down umbrella.

After all of the pruning is done we gather the fallen branches and put them in the middle of the row, push them out and pile them...then have a little....ehhh scratch that...BIG bon fire!

Here's a couple of shots from the orchard yesterday....

peaches with the piles of branches

peach trees and blue skies