The people admire and choose typical peach trees at Thanh Tu peach garden, Truc Son hamlet, Toan Son commune (Da Bac).
From the beginning of lunar December, Do Van Thinh's peach garden in Tan Son hamlet has been bustling with the employees preparing for Tet. On an area of about 4,000m2, there are more than 200 large and small peach trees including double-petal peach, Nhat Tan peach, white peach... varieties, which are popular in the market. Compared to that of the previous years, the price of peaches this year is stable, ranging from 1 - 5 million VND/tree depending on the variety. Some ancient peach trees cost from 15 to 20 million VND, especially some precious peach trees can cost up to 25 million VND. Mr. Thinh says: "This year the market trend still favors the typical peach variety of Da Bac highlands. This is an ancient peach variety with the unique and strange shapes and forms that attract buyers to display at home. The gardeners have focused on the process of caring, pruning, and canopy and shape creating. At the same time, the prevention of diseases such as stem borers, fungi, etc. has been strengthened”.
At Thanh Tu peach garden in Truc Son hamlet, Toan Son commune, in early December, many traders arrived to "close” the trees. According to the gardeners' assessment, this year's peach blossoms are more beautiful due to the favorable end of the year. The gardeners have prepared more than 100 ancient peach trees to sell to the market. The scale of the garden and the number of trees in recent years have also been expanded, diversifying the varieties to meet the market's demand during the Lunar New Year.
To have healthy trees that bloom on time for Tet, the gardeners have applied techniques and many years of experience in growing and caring for peach trees. Accordingly, after cutting the last branches around the beginning of the 7th lunar month, the gardeners fertilize the trees with phosphorus. In the 8th lunar month, they start to slow down the peach trees with the growth regulators until the trees stop growing. At this time, the peach trees start to bud. 50 - 60 days before Tet, depending on the size of the flower buds and weather conditions, they pluck the leaves to help the trees focus on nutrition for flowers to grow.
In recent years, gardeners have researched and grasped the consumers’ trends and preferences to provide the market with the most beautiful peach trees. During the care process, the growers pay special attention to creating shapes suitable for the space of their homes or offices. This has attracted many people to choose and buy beautiful, unique, and strange peach trees to display during Tet.
Mr. Do Quoc Tuan, from Quang Binh province, says: "Having worked in Hoa Binh province for a while, I have learned that in the mountainous district of Da Bac, there are very beautiful ancient peach trees. That's why, this New Year, I am here to choose to buy a peach tree with the typical colors of the Northwest mountains and forests to display at home. I hope that the whole family will have good health, happiness, and peace in the new year”.
In addition to planting and expanding the peach growing area, the peach rental service for Tet has also "blossomed” in recent years. It can be seen that the peach rental service partly meets the needs of families, agencies, and businesses. The vibrant development of the peach rental service for Tet not only brings economic benefits to growers but also creates jobs for hundreds of seasonal employees. Through the actual surveys, the tree rental procedure is quite simple because most gardeners put "trust” first. If the tree is not satisfactory and does not meet the flower quality, the gardener will guarantee and agree to convert it to a peach tree according to the customer's wishes. On the day of receiving the tree, the gardener will bring it home and advise on how to care for the tree during Tet... In addition to the peach rental service for Tet, the gardeners also accept planting and caring for peach trees after Tet for customers. Many customers using this service are satisfied because the trees are well cared for, the flowers bloom on time, the trees are strong and beautiful, and at the same time, the ancient peach trees are preserved and maintained.
Toan Son commune is a famous peach growing area of Da Bac District with over 15 large-scale gardens. The whole commune also maintains and develops over 5 hectares of peach trees with a total of 4,000 - 5,000 trees of all kinds. Peach growing is not only a seasonal model to increase income during Tet but it has also gradually become a key economic model to help the people increase their income, improving the quality of life and promoting the local socio-economic development.