Despite its obvious struggles, our eight year old Desert Gold peach is producing ripening fruit right on schedule. The way we know fruit is beginning to ripen is when we see evidence of birds helping themselves, and I noticed several have already been nibbled on.
If we wait for the fruit to fully ripen on the tree, the birds will get most of it, so we usually pick them in a not quite ripe state and allow them to finish ripening on the counter. They still taste better than anything from a store!
After this year's harvest, we plan to take off the long limb extending over the pond, which has very few leaves on it, and cut back the dead-looking branches to a point where the foliage seems healthy. If the branches don't have leaves, they can't photosynthesize food for the tree, so they're really just moochers. My theory is that by pruning away the nonproductive parts of the tree, the roots will be better able to provide nutrients to what's left.
2 comments:
Lorraine,although unsaid, knowing you,I'm sure you must have appreciated the spiritual metaphor connected with your comments in the last paragraph.:) I struggle to prune away the non-productive negative energies which challenge my will to surrender and trust in the Grace that every day blesses my life. For me, "Letting go is sometimes as or more difficult than holding on,but either way it is the "Miracle-Gro" of a spiritual garden whose eternal harvest is love without limits and the peace that is beyond all understanding..
You are so right, and you said it beautifully!
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