When we moved into our house here in Utah, one of the things I was most excited about and charmed by was the giant garden plot in the backyard, left planted with plentiful corn and potato plants by the previous owners. Sadly, we had no idea what a potato plant looked like so last summer's harvest went uneaten, but we had more than our fill of corn. I was already rubbing my hands together greedily with plans of vast and varied home gardening before we moved in. We both also noticed what looked like some sort of fruit tree - a stone fruit for sure but which one? - which was half dead and had rotting fruits on a few branches. I was sad for the tree and pondered what the blight may be, but far too busy with life to do much about it.
Fast forward 6 months: this past Spring we finally got around to having a few cottonwood trees cut down. One was teetering dangerously over the neighbor's garage, another two were simply giant wrecks waiting to happen. Add to the list of my pet peeves people who plant cottonwoods (or any fast-growing, "weed-tree") in tiny spaces just to give the property an established feel. I know it sucks not to have established trees when you first move in, but the negatives of an ill-chosen tree far outweigh that suckiness. So anyway, when we cut down the cottonwoods, there were several unintended consequences, apart from losing some shade (and getting thanked by our neighbors), one of which was that our Peach tree suddenly sprang to life. In Spring it had lovely leaves and blossoms. In Summer we started to notice the abundant fruits coming to life. By July branches were breaking under the weight of the growing peaches, and by the end of August, we were ready to dig in, despite the fruit not being quite ready. September brought the perfect bounty and we spent an entire month eating peaches from the tree, making peach cobbler, and sharing with our neighbors. At the end of September, the peaches were red and juicy and falling off branches copiously. I decided to take matters into my own hands.
Fast forward 6 months: this past Spring we finally got around to having a few cottonwood trees cut down. One was teetering dangerously over the neighbor's garage, another two were simply giant wrecks waiting to happen. Add to the list of my pet peeves people who plant cottonwoods (or any fast-growing, "weed-tree") in tiny spaces just to give the property an established feel. I know it sucks not to have established trees when you first move in, but the negatives of an ill-chosen tree far outweigh that suckiness. So anyway, when we cut down the cottonwoods, there were several unintended consequences, apart from losing some shade (and getting thanked by our neighbors), one of which was that our Peach tree suddenly sprang to life. In Spring it had lovely leaves and blossoms. In Summer we started to notice the abundant fruits coming to life. By July branches were breaking under the weight of the growing peaches, and by the end of August, we were ready to dig in, despite the fruit not being quite ready. September brought the perfect bounty and we spent an entire month eating peaches from the tree, making peach cobbler, and sharing with our neighbors. At the end of September, the peaches were red and juicy and falling off branches copiously. I decided to take matters into my own hands.
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