~Mr. Mitcham's Peaches

Mr. Mitcham grows the best peaches around. Almost as much fun as eating the delicious fruit is taking a drive out to the orchard in the early spring. You can see acres and acres of gorgeous peach blossoms, each a promise of future fruit. I like to just sit and drink in this beautiful sight. One particular spring, I walked among the trees to take a closer look at some strange things Mr. Mitcham was doing to his peach trees. The first thing I noticed was that all the topmost branches had been cut off the trees. What a pity, I thought. Those trees were gorgeous and he has ruined them! He went to all the trouble to plant them and tend them and now he is ruining them. As I drew closer, I saw that not only had he cut off their top branches, but he had put strong bands around some of the branches holding them (by force) into the desired position. (I later learned the reason for this was to keep them from breaking under the heavy weight of the expected abundant fruit.)    There was one more thing I noticed that was some sort of discipline for the tree. On the outermost part of some of the limbs there were tied small styrofoam cups filled with concrete, the weight of which forced the branches down within reach.    As summer approached, the orchard produced a bumper crop. The most beautiful and the tastiest peaches ever! Why do you suppose that happened? Was it a coincidence? No. It was all carefully planned and the plan was just as meticulously executed. The result was a great harvest of wonderful fruit! And the bonus was that the pickers did not have to spend hours on ladders reaching the highest limbs for the fruit.    Meanwhile in another orchard, there were a few scraggly-looking peach trees that had never been tended. They had never been pruned or fertilized or sprayed for insects. They had never known the gardener's touch, and the resulting peaches were small, few, and not nearly as tasty as the ones from the disciplined trees.   A knee bowed and a life placed in the hands of the Master Gardener will result in His loving and wise grooming. This grooming and shaping will result in the bearing of much sweet smelling and beautiful fruit, fruit that will be of eternal significance. The "trees" in the other orchard, who are having it their way and who have chosen to be their own masters will look on enviously and with regret as they observe the Gardener's finished product. back to Bloom Home