Going for a ride through the Orchard with Farmer Al on his golf cart is always a treat. Every ride I learn something new about our farming system and see some things of great beauty. On our last ride I was treated to viewing a bee swarm. Driving slowly through the loud hum of hundreds of bees swarming among the branches of one of our peach trees was quite an experience. I was a bit nervous about it but Farmer Al assured me they were too busy to bother us, and he was right.
We bumped further along down the dusty farm roads through rows of peaches and apricots that seemed to glow in the sunlight. All the while, Farmer Al scanning a large block of trees.
He was scanning to look at the tender shoot growth emerging from the tops and ends of the trees. We recently applied humic acid to the soil to compliment our compost as an amendment for soil fertility. He was pleased with the results. Long rows throughout the block of trees we were examining exhibited lots of new growth. Those tender green shoots will continue to grow throughout the summer and fall until they harden off to become next years fruit wood. In the winter the Tree Team will begin pruning out about two-thirds of the new branches. They’ll keep the strongest branches that are best positioned on the tree to take advantage of the sunlight available to grow next years crop.
One of the beautiful things about farming is its cyclical nature. It’s pretty cool looking at these tender green shoots throughout the orchard and knowing that our Tree Team will be harvesting peaches off of them next year around this time. For those that don’t look to be the best candidates to grow our delicious peaches, we have other plans, and this time it isn’t our compost! These tender green shoots will become the hoop for the dream catcher craft project at our Summer Pick & Jam for which we hope you’ll be joining us.
