Peaches!! We have two small peach trees. We have never had peaches. Peaches bloom early and it seems that we always have a frost that kills the blooms…or perhaps it is because they had never been pruned. Last winter, when the boys and I were pruning the apple trees in the little orchard, we also pruned the peach trees. OH MY! We had a ton of blooms and then we noticed little peaches. They have been a topic of conversation and we have watched with great interest to see if they would really make it to adult “peach hood”.
I sent Elijah down to see if he found any ready to pick
…he came back with this……a big, beautiful bowl of peaches!
It may not show in the picture but this is one of my biggest stainless steel bowls. It’s huge!
They were small but oh, my goodness, the flavor! And they were freestone! We ate some, took some to Mom and she enjoyed them and then froze the rest for winter!
We then decided to go back down there and check on the rest of the peaches…the trees were still loaded but not quite ready to pick. We checked it frequently and just the other day we picked. All four of us spent about 20 minutes cleaning off both trees. LOTS and LOTS of peaches!
There was one peach with a “nose” that delighted Elijah. The picture isn’t great but you get the idea!
As you can see….we brought home quite a bit.
Mom took one basket and processed them for the freezer. Peach cobbler on a snowy day this winter! Yummy! I took the other basket. Mom came over and we enjoyed chatting for a couple of hours while we peeled them for freezer jam.
I see how, in the past, women encouraged and enjoyed each other over canning bees, quilting bees, shucking bees etc. We’ve lost, as women, an important part of life. I wish there was a way to get that back. I’m so glad I can experience it with Mom.
I took the peaches that we peeled and made freezer jam. Although we will all enjoy it, I did this especially for Jeremy….this is one of his favorite fruits. Out of one basket, I was able to make 13 pints of freezer jam. And boy is it good! I’ve given some away and tucked the rest into the freezer with a “one jar a month” limitation for the boys. Otherwise. we’d be through all of the freezer jam (all varieties) by Christmas!!
Isn’t it pretty?
We have decided that we definitely need to plant more peach trees…and I think we have figured out exactly where to put them! We’ll be looking to do that this fall….hopefully in a few years we can increase our harvest. It will also be interesting next year to see if the yield was due to the weather or due to the fact that they were finally pruned! We will definitely be pruning again this fall!
The Essential Herbalist 
Leave a comment