The peach trees

This is my second year of having peaches, on trees I planted the first spring we were in the house. Over that winter (2003) I read Epitaph for a Peach, by David Masumoto. He mourned the loss of the Suncrest peach from modern agriculture. The Suncrest peach was perishable and did not ship well, but had a superior taste and the messy, running down your face kind of juiciness. He still grows them and funnels them through local organic food channels in California, doing his part to save this peach from extinction. So I tracked down Suncrest peach trees and planted two of them. Most trees don't produce for several years after they are planted, but I got peaches the very next year. Only about 6 on each tree after the squirrels were done robbing me of unripe ones. This year I was loaded. Almost every blossom produced a tiny little peach. I dutifully waited for the June drop and then thinned as many as I could bear to. I think I should have thinned more. The branches are heavily weighed down now. I crafted props for the branches from boards that I cut notches in, wedging them underneath the ridiculously bent- over limbs. I thinned more. But the peaches are now so heavy, I'd have to take all of them off to make a difference. Every time there is a thunderstorm now, I sit at the dining room table and watch the props and the heavy limbs sway back and forth with every gust, just praying that they hold and the entire branch doesn't snap off, taking all the fruit with it. I was greedy and I hope I don't lose my trees because of it.