Peach buds

My peach tree budded out last week. As you can see from the picture, I didn't prune the tree like you are supposed to in March. Next year, I'll make sure I do it in the early spring.

Besides pruning, the other thing you have to do is thin out the peaches. If you don't you will get smaller fruit and I have even seen the peaches so heavy that they break the branches of the tree! The best time to thin out the peach crop is when the fruit is small (about the size of a quarter). According to Ohio State University (where the best study on backyard peach tree growing was written), peaches should be thinned to 8 inches apart.

At One Love Farm we have an issue with birds eating the peaches on the tree. I have tried using bird netting, but found that tree growth during the season makes it tough to get the netting off the tree after the season ends. So, we have hung aluminum pie plates on the tree. The sound and reflection from the pie plates seems to do a good job of scaring off the birds. And that means more peaches for us to enjoy come August.