Peach Trees Have a smell

It starts early in the season.. around February

The skinny knobs swell and bulge

Deep within its silent bark these knobs turn shiny cranberry red

Almost at cue the tiny knobs burst into light pink starlike blossoms

The air is redolent with a feint smell of almond. Its the peach blossom seaon

Each branch competes with all others to see which will have the most on it

Green leaves soon take over and hide the miracle of blossom

If the weather has been warm and the bees have made their visit, tiny beginnings of new fruit will be formed deep within the blossoms

The fragrance is gone.. well not really, The smell of new leaves becomes dominant

This new leaf smell is distictive, its not like grass or any other, Peach trees smell differently and they seem proud of their distinction

The watchful farmer knows that the tree in its anxiousness to compete for most blossoms per branch cannot keep the entire grist of its labor.

Only three or four peaches may be kept along each branch as it makes its way to the sky.

So the farmer has to make some decisions. Which tender wish will be fufilled and which will not. A human hand reaches up and makes an almost unconscious decision.

A careful thinning will allow those left to reach maturity. A mistake here will leave the poor tree without a crop.

Its too bad they all cannot be saved.

Such wonderful works of art.

They are still green and the size of steelie marbles when the choice is made

The choice will be made and made again as new clusters of peaches first missed are discovered

The wise man even in good years will use a human fist to measure the minimum space between these beuties, But what can be done when both peaches grow to fill the space between?

Ideally the winds will come and knock off those extras that the tree cannot maintain.

Sometimes a mistake is made and even the sticks that are made to hold the tree up with its added burden is not enough. There will be one less limb to worry about next year,

When the peaches are ripe, there is no other smell like it, A delicate aroma that fills the air and makes the nights of the central valley memorable.

It hot during peach harvest season. The low temperature at night is not less than 70. During the day it can be in the 100's. The smell of peaches that have fallen to the ground also emit a smell.

Its a little like peach brandy. Its heady and somewhat alcoholic.

When a peach orchard sits without its crop and with only the hope of next year on its mind, its nice to be around peach trees as they emit their collective sigh.