Believe it or not, picking a ton and a half of peaches most days in July and August is the easy part.

Beginning in early February, all 4,000 peach trees (and 800 apple trees) must be pruned by hand to remove extra limbs and branches that would otherwise shade the fruit and keep it from ripening properly. To look and taste its best, each peach must receive plenty of sunlight and fresh air.

This picture from Penn State University shows a mature peach tree before and after pruning.

Then, after the trees bloom in April – and if they are fortunate enough to escape a late frost – they set fruit a few weeks later. Thinning begins, removing most of the tiny peaches to let the tree put all its energy into growing those that remain into large, fine fruit. About 80 to 90 percent of the thousands of set fruits on each tree ultimately are picked off, in a process that requires at least two and sometimes as many as five passes over each tree.

Thinning continues through May, June, July and even into August, with some late-bearing varieties receiving their last going-over even as early and mid-season varieties are being picked.

Then, if all goes well, the first of our peaches arrives in mid-July, beginning with cling peaches and progressing into Red Havens and lesser-known but even tastier varieties such as Coral Star, Jersey Glo, Loring, Jim Dandy, Harrow Beauty and Harcrest. In a good year, we are flooded with luscious peaches.