What to Do With Peaches?
August 15th, 2013 · 4 Comments · Posted in farming, Orchard
Trees are groaning with ripe peaches
Have I mentioned we have an orchard with 120 young fruit trees on our new farm? I can’t take any credit: They were planted by the previous owner. Up to now, I’ve totally neglected the orchard. But the same neighbor who loaned me his sheep also dropped off his rider mower, so I’ve been trying to cut down the tall grass around the fruit trees. It’s a huge job. In the process, I noticed we have peach trees so full of ripe fruit the branches are sagging to the ground.
The local insect population has also discovered our peaches. Swarms of bees and butterflies are feasting on them. These particular peaches are not terribly large, but they are sweet and juicy. I hate to see them go to waste. But I can only eat so many peaches myself–I especially like them in homemade yogurt–and we just aren’t prepared to deal with them this year. I can see a few pies and cobblers. Maybe we’ll be able to give some away to friends in the area. We should be canning them for later.
What’s your favorite use for fresh peaches?
Yum! Can I come and pick some please? pity there’s an ocean in the way 🙁
Can you put word out that people could pick their own – my mum has people from the local church call round to pick apples and plums from her trees so they can make preserves to sell at the Christmas bazaar.
Great idea, Celia
Hey Ed…we just ate them sliced, over a bit of butter pecan ice cream, and sprinkled with a bit of brown sugar…our “ode” to Georgia! They were fabulous! I think that if you don’t have time to consume or preserve them, you might win a lot of points with the neighbors by putting a table at the end of your driveway with a sign that says something like, “Free to our good neighbors” or something like that. Or, you can deliver bags of them to those folks who have helped you out since your arrival. We used to do that with our asparagus! Enjoy!
Maybe it’s time to start a pick-your-own operation….