KENT, Ohio — The sound of chainsaws still echoes around Northeast Ohio. Last week, there was storm damage galore throughout our area. Some huge trees were toppled by tornadoes.
The high winds snapped some smaller branches too, including 30-year-old peach trees at Beckwith Orchards.
"Looks like we have eight to 10 peach trees that we lost some significant limbs and some of those had not been picked yet so that was tough to see," grower Sally Beckwith told 3News.
The peach trees are pruned to keep the trees short and branches low. Nutrients then go to the growth of fruit, not branches or foliage. The broken limbs were full of peaches.
"Most of these are Loring. It's some of the older trees in our orchard so they are more at risk than some of our younger peach trees," Beckwith said.
The growing season is about two weeks ahead on average, and that may have saved the farm's Red Haven peaches. They were picked prior to the storms. For farmers like Sally Beckwith, she says sometimes it's better to be lucky. "Timing, I guess. Could have been much worse than it was."
Now, the fruit boxes stand at the ready, awaiting the next crop to ripen: apples. Sally says the farm market has several varieties already available.
"Molly's Delicious, Ginger Gold, Elstar and Premier Honeycrisp in the building, all a little bit ahead of schedule," Beckwith said.
This damage may seem minor, but the effect on a small, family grower like Beckwith's can be huge.
"This was probably the best peach crop that we've had in 22 years," Beckwith said. "Just when I think I've experienced everything, something else tends to come up that I didn't think about."