PEACHES: It’s Harvest Time!

I had plans to paint…

However, it’s harvest time! Hold everything!!! Time to pick, pack and put away for winter enjoyment!

My husband came in from outside and said the peaches needed picked before they mold. We do not put any pesticides on our trees so it is a short window to get them when they are ripe and before they get eaten by bugs, the deer, and/or mold.

So for the love of peaches, I laid my weekend plans of painting aside and started gathering up this delicious fruit.

I did not want to go through the process of canning or blanching the peaches. Too many steps and I am all about simple. I had frozen some last year that we enjoyed in smoothies and desserts throughout the year. However, I could not remember all the details…so, I googled it and found www.peach-depot.com and www.cleaneatingchelsey.com helpful for an easy freezing method.

I ended up using the www.cleaneatingchelsey.com recipe of lemon juice and a sugar/agave blend to preserve the peaches and keep them from turning brown.

I did my preserving in batches. I had a very large bowl and also used a pot to collect the peaches. Beautiful!!!!

Before, giving the peaches their sweet citrus coating, I gave them a little bath in water. I added roughly a half cup of white vinegar to the bath water to help kill any germs and critters. Not sure if it is nessecary, but it gives me peace of mind. 🙂 After they soaked for 15-20 minutes, I rinsed them and began the storage process.

After their bath, I started peeling them. This is where you can also blanch the peaches to get the skins off, but I would rather peel.


I cut into the peeled peach down to the pit and made slices. Most of the peaches were still firm. Sometimes the wedges came right off and sometimes they stuck to the pit and I had to cut the pieces away from it. Either way, the peaches sliced up nicely and had such an incredible flavor (yes, I sampled a slice from every peach!!!). Nothing like homegrown fruits and vegetables!

I placed the cut peaches into a bowl and coated them with the lemon and sugar mixture. Then I packed them away in quart size bags. I pressed the air out of the bag as best I could and then sealed it. I moved the peaches around in the bag so they would freeze flat. This way I could get a lot more packed away for a cold winters snack. Plus, placing the bags flat makes it easier to break a few off to throw in smoothies.

Of course we have a few for snacking on right now. Plan to make some cobbler this week…yum!!!

So grateful for the fruit trees on our property. It is a little work to plan ahead and also drop everything to take care of the immediate. I know when the cold weather comes rushing in and the trees are bare, I’ll be smiling as I enjoy the fruits of my labor! 🙂

Take time to look for the happy moments in each day. Sometimes they come with interrupted plans…like peach peeling! 🙂

If you have any recipe tips and treasures for anything “peaches,” please feel free to share the with us on Facebook or leave a message on this site.
Blessings,
Michelle