This past Thursday we went to the Pearson peach farm, for work. It was a good break from the daily routine. We saw how they pick and package the peaches for shipment. The peaches we saw packed will be in the stores by this weekend. All the peaches they pick are shipped out within 24 hours from the time they we picked.
We also when out into the fields and got a lesson on how they grow peaches. A peach is a peach to most of us, but they plant 12 different varieties of peach trees.
The reason is, peach trees only produce peaches worth sales for 12-20 days a year, the other 345 days they just grow in the fields. Different varieties produce fruit at different times of the year. For example when the first trees are about finished producing fruit the next group is getting ready to pick. This repeats it’s self 12 times throughout the summer, so we get fresh peaches all summer long.
Also the only produce fruit for the market from age 3 -12, even thought they may leave the trees in the fields up to 20 years. The older trees produce less fruit but a high quality. They use these for ice cream and other sweets. This is how this peach farm has stayed in business for over 100 years.
It reminds me of our Christian life, how that most of our life we bear little or no fruit. It also reminds me of the next generation that will pickup where we stopped. It is important to the Church to keep a new generation of Christians in the field.
A reminder of nature of how the Church most go forward.