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Last February we planted 20 acres of our peak season peaches. These trees are going to fill in for some older orchards that are in decline in production. Once the new trees reach production, we will begin removing the old trees over about a five year period.
We were out visiting the new trees today and we feel they are doing better than any previous planting we have ever done! Many of the trees are already 6 feet in height. Farmer Al attributes their health to the compost and vermicompost program we implemented while planting the trees.
This coming February we will begin pruning these trees for the first time. This “first leaf” pruning is very important for the lifelong health and production capacity of the trees. Our top six pruners will work with farmer Al on these trees. During this pruning many of the trees will lose about half of the height they have gained in order to create the proper structure or what we call scaffold of the tree.
This past week we’ve begun preparing ground to plant an additional 20 acres in plums and pluots just south of our new 20 acres of peaches. Looking at the two adjacent fields, one completely bare and one flourishing with growth, it is amazing to see how far our peaches have come in less than one year.
We’ll provide more news on first leaf pruning and new pluot planting when we are in the thick of it!
