Just Peachy!

So the Yellow Peach Tree sure seemed to be taking it's sweet time, where ripening was concerned.   It's like, every afternoon, I'd wander out there and the fruits would be *taunting* me with their greenish-hue and ever-expanding lusciousness!!  I would tug gently on the fruits, but they were unyielding - so I decided to leave them alone for "just one more day." :::sigh:::

But, in looking back at prior years' posts, it seems like Yellow-Tree was actually rather EARLY this year.  Hmmmm...

I guess that explains the overlap between the (early-bearing) white peaches and the (later-bearing) yellows:

July 31st' Harvest

The little ones are white - and the big (greenish) ones are yellow.

We usually had a 1-2 week "lag" between harvests (which was great because I never felt overwhelmed).  It didn't work out that way this year!

Once Yellow-Tree got going, it was Fast 'n Furious!  And the fruits were huuuuuuge!  And "Quick Grab a Towel" Juicy!

I didn't have a napkin, so I leaned over the side 

of my chair (outside!) to eat it.

I ended up with sticky dogs!

So anyway, it's been producing (what feels like) TONNAGE, every day, for less than a week.  Actually, it was probably more like 10-12 lbs per day.  But - any way you slice it - that's a LOT of peaches for two people (Especially when one is out of town 40% of the time!!!).

Saturday's haul

Mostly big, fat yellows and still a couple of small whites

So "What the hell am I gonna do with all these #$%^ peaches?!!"

Well - first-off - post some pictures on Facebook ;-)

Then wait for my BFF (who has been wanting to "pick fresh fruit off a tree" for the past several weeks) to message me. She came over on Sunday and picked a basket-full of fruit.  Naturally, I ASSUMED that meant that she wanted to take it with her - but "Nooooo!!!"  Turns out, she ONLY wanted to "pick-it!"

(I sent her home with a bagful, anyway.  She protested rather vociferously, but Jeeez!).

I also sent off an email to Finnyknits because she posts about her love of peaches (and - surprising - lack of a tree).  Last year, the timing wasn't right, but this year it worked out!  She came over this afternoon and gave me a bag of pickle-able cucumbers *and* relieved me of a basket-ful of fresh-picked peaches (Yayyy Finny!).  Added Bonus:  Finny got to see her Finny-Farm "Tomatoes in the Wild."  Grant you, they aren't doing a whole heckuva lot yet - but they are still ALIVE (:::whew!:::  How embarrassing would THAT be?!!)  

And then I spent the better part of the afternoon sorting through the last several days' harvest.  I do tend to pick them while they're still green-ish (because if I wait for full ripeness, the friggin' birds get 'em first!).

General Rule of Thumb on home-grown peaches is:  You need to use them pretty-quick.  Yeah, if they're greenish, they may need to sit for ONE DAY on the counter (No more!).  But even if they are slightly greenish, you can still use 'em.  If they're more yellow when you pick 'em, you need to use them SAME-DAY.  Seriously, these are NOT the fruits you buy at the grocery-store, and their shelf-life is EXTREMELY limited!

So, a lot of 'em ended up in the trash, unfortunately (they had been picked over the last three days)...

I did make up one batch of Spicy Peach Jam (recipe coming!) - but there was a lot of judicious cutting-off of mushy-parts (Ooops!) - in the preparation stage.  Nevertheless....

Yummy-Licious Spicy Peach Jam

(and you can actually taste the cinnamon in this batch)

(and it is GOOD!)

I had blanched/peeled a few too many peaches for the double-batch o' jam, so I also cobbled-together a (wish I could say "cobbler!") Fresh Peach-Spice-Pie:

My kitchen smells like heaven!

And yes, I'll post the recipe for that as well!

More to come....................