You Have To Start Somewhere

  Back behind the canebrake, we have a small peach orchard. Well, we DID have a small peach orchard.  Oh, the trees are still there but, for the past few years, we harvested nary a peach.  For a few years, the trees gave us tons of the plumpest peaches imaginable.  Yes, we lost a few to the squirrels and raccoons but the rest were harvested!  Then, the deer found the trees and that was that.  They even went so far as to knock down a six foot tall fence to get to the fruit.  Now, the deer get to the fruit before it ripens. One bite out of each peach and then drop the remains.  We do not get a single peach.

  Well, all is not lost.  Those peach halves that were dropped contained the seed.  Now, hundreds of tiny peach trees are popping up in the lawn beneath the trees.  I am elated even though these tiny trees will most likely not bear the large juicy peaches that we desire.  They ARE peach trees, however, and you have to start somewhere.  A new orchard closer to the house is in the making!  Tomorrow will find me out back with a shovel and flower pots.  The tiny trees will be dug, planted and babied until they grow to about four feet tall.  Then...the work.  Those dozens upon dozens of peach trees will be grafted with limbs from our one remaining "good" peach tree.  We have one tree that I grew from a seed about five years ago.  We had been on a trip to Georgia to visit our new grandbaby when we purchased some peaches to bring home.  On a whim, I planted a seed and the rest is history!  The tree is amazing!  Small cuttings will be taken from that tree and grafted on the seedling peaches from the back orchard.  

  I am sure glad that Pop taught me all of the farm tricks that he knew.  Sometimes I have trouble remembering just how things were done but if I ponder a bit, the information usually comes back to me.  He always had the best fruit trees and the prettiest garden.  One bit of encouragement still rings in my head.  When I would question how to get a nice orchard or a perfect row of beans, he would  always say in his old easy-going farmer's drawl "Well....you have to start somewhere."  Makes sense...just start.  So the new orchard will start tomorrow with a bunch of seedling peach trees!

There is a better way!

  Our peach orchard sits in the back of the house about half way down to the creek.  Obviously, we were not using our brains when we decided that it was a good idea to plant the trees here.  Even though for a while we had a six foot tall fence surrounding the trees, critters still raided the fruit.  We tried to outsmart the animals by adding several rows of electric fence wire around the top of the existing fence.  The critters still raided the fruit.  Nothing we did could dissuade the critters from stealing peaches every night.  What made this most frustrating was the fact that even though they would bite a peach, the varmints never finished a single one.  One bite and the peach was dropped to the ground.  This just ruined bushels of fruit.  We decided that we needed to pick the peaches before they ripened.  Perhaps this would work. Nope, the coons, squirrels, birds and deer all decided to beat us to the punch and nibble the green, unripe fruit. This whole thing was very disheartening.

  Then a seedling peach tree decided to push its way through the mulch in the Rose Garden.  I carefully dug it and potted it in hopes that perhaps we could find a place that would be critter-free.  Since the Rose Garden has been transformed into the Cottage Garden with veggies, fruits and herbs, the sapling was transplanted in a prime spot.  It grew quickly and this year produced a number of fruit.  So far, no critters have devoured our peaches!  Perhaps planting the tree in the midst of the tomatoes, squash and cucumbers disguised it to the point that the animals were unable to find it!  Perhaps, Ms. Ez, the Bayou Dog, did her job a bit better this year.  Perhaps, I need to plant more fruit trees within feet of the house!  This definitely seems to be a much better way of getting fruit!

  Usually a seedling peach has better odds of being a clingstone peach where the seed hangs tight to the flesh but this seedling is the perfect freestone type!  The fruit is sweet, juicy and highly flavorful! Mark and I are pondering whether to try our hand at planting another seed or investing in a tree from the nursery.  Since this one did so well, I might just plant a seed...or two...or maybe a dozen or so!