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Wednesday, August 22, 2012 1937 - 2012 · Celebrating 75 Years Orono Weekly Times - 3 PEACHES Continued from front To make a successful business out of the peaches, Michaels says he would need a 10 acre orchard, but concedes he is supposed to be retired, and he values his marriage too much to grow 10 acres of peaches. "The reason I grow them [peaches] is because I like eating them," Michaels stated. Every single peach is different ­ different flavour, different texture, he says. But the best part of the whole operation according to Michaels is watching people's faces when they bite into a peach that has been tree ripened, not picked green and shipped. "There is a huge difference between the acid and sugar content when a peach is tree ripened as opposed to one this is softened on your counter," Michaels stated. He acknowledges that commercial growers do not have the luxury of allowing their peaches to ripen on the trees because they have to be shipped. "A tree ripened peach won't ship any distance," Michaels said, "It would get there as juice." A peach picked green will not ripen on your counter according Michaels, it will only get soft. While everything in agriculture is labour intensive, peach trees are especially so, according to Michaels. "You are constantly thinning." Where apple farmers use chemicals to thin out their crop, there is no known chemical to thin out peaches, Michaels claims. So he is always thinning; first the blossoms and then the peaches, as he walks through his orchard. Peaches should be five or six inches apart on the trees, and they grow in clusters. "The birds tell me when the peaches are ripe," Michaels said. They take a peck out of one peach and move on to the next. "The way I look at it, if I have 30 trees, the birds leave 28 for me," Michaels said, and added, "besides, they get up earlier than I do." Birds are a bigger problem than bugs, Michaels says. Because his is the only peach crop around, the bugs haven't found him yet. For this reason he only has to use half of the recommended rate of chemical spray in the spring. Over the y e a r s Michaels has learned which varieties are better and will continue to add some varieties to his orchard, but not much more. He realized he made a mistake planting as many canning peaches as he did because very few people still can peaches. "I have to remind myself I'm retired," he said. "Even if I had three times the amount of trees I have now, I'm sure I could sell them here," Michaels stated. "Everyone is just crazy about the tree ripened peach." He sells a lot of his peaches from a fruit stand at the farm on weekends and supplies a number of local fruit markets. "It is a real novelty for people to be able to buy local peaches," Michaels said. Operating a fruit stand at the house is also a good way to meet neighbours," he stated, although many along the Lakeshore know him as the guy who grows the hollyhocks. Michaels says he grew the hocks holly along two fields south of the house just to have something to look at. The year he retired Michaels said he didn't plant anything, "I wanted to catch up on my sleep," that year people began knocking on his door wondering where the hollyhocks Al Michaels grows peaches because he loves to eat them. Michaels grows the peaches just east of Morgans Road on Lakeshore Road in Newcastle. were. "It is not exactly the retirement I planned," Michaels stated, "but it gives me an excuse to be on the land." And besides, Michaels says, he got sore legs playing golf four times a week. ~ Happenings ~ Saturday, August 25th, 2012 - Orono Crown Land Trust Annual BBQ, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Rain or Shine) East off Ochonski Road at the end of StationSt. Ample Parking. Saturday, August 25th, 2012 - Picasso's Picnic, Kids Artfest at the Clarington Visual Art Center, Visual Arts, Workshops on the ground - both group projects and "make and take. Free Admission, Located at 187 Simpsons Road Bowmanville. Sunday, August 26th, 2012 - Military and Gun Show, Pickering Recreational Centre, 1867 Valleyfarm Road. $5.00 admission. More information contact 905-623-1778 Sunday, August 26th, 2012 - Newtonville Gazebo ribbon cutting, Mike Pollard and Christine Vaillancourt will be performing, Come out and Enjoy.