June 07, 2010

Peach Picking

Over Memorial Day, Greg took me and our daughter (who is home from college) to Fredericksburg, Texas. I have so much to tell you about our trip that I'm going to have to break it up over a two or three posts. So, we're going to be stuck on Memorial Day for a while. :)

Fredericksburg is in the heart of the Texas hill country. When we were driving in we saw sign after sign for fresh peaches. Clearly, we were in Peach Country.

So while we were there we visited a peach orchard and picked our own peaches. We were going to pick some blackberries, too, but their quota for the day had already been picked. (I was really sad about this. I loooooove blackberries.)

Anyhoo, we were told how to tell if a peach was ripe and ready for picking. One thing I didn't know was that the red part of the peach is its "sunburn." The farmers said peaches get sunburned just like we do and that's not what makes a peach ripe. The thing to watch for is a peach with any green on it. If it has green instead of yellow, it's not ready to be picked.

I tell you, though, what they were calling green, I would've called yellow. So I did it by touch. If it was soft instead of hard, I picked. We ended up with ten pounds of peaches! Ohmigosh, they were so good and juicy.

When we got back to Houston I made some homemade peach cobbler. Yum! We still had tons of peaches left, so I Googled recipes that included fresh peaches and we've been trying all sorts of things ... peachy fruit salad, smoothies, parfaits, and all kinds of stuff.

What about you? Have you ever picked fruit right off the tree before? 

posted by Deeanne on 06/07/2010

Comments: 15

Paula said...

I'll be right over!!

6/7/2010

Deeanne Gist said...

Come on! Seriously. I have a ton and would love to see you!

6/7/2010

browneyes said...

Wow that must have been really fun!! my dad loves fruit, so we have around 15-20 apple trees, four cherry trees, blue berry's,black berry's, and a few pear trees. its so nice to just walk out side and have fresh fruit!!! i cant wait until everything is ready!! Oh and then Dad planted a little apple orchard about 5 miles from our house. it has like 50 trees. They are still a little small though:(

6/7/2010

Susan said...

Homemade Peach Ice-cream is so good. I have been putting the peaches in the blender instead of dicing them. My kids like it better smooth. Peach Freezer Jam was also one of the family favorites. One of our friends called it Peach Butter. And yes, we pick fruit right from the apple, pear and peach trees. Also used to have grapes and blueberries (now our cows have grapes and blueberries) There is nothing like fruits right off the tree or vine.

6/7/2010

Sarah said...

I've never picked peaches straight from the tree before but growing up in Florida my family used to stop at U-picks. We would mostly pick strawberries. It was a lot of fun and great family time.

6/7/2010

Ashley said...

Woah! I had no idea that peaches could get sunburned! I have been peach picking once before, the location was a beautiful place with an old farm house on the property. I picked peaches until my heart's content and then I then went home and made peach jam with my grandparents. I really should do it again, it was a lot of fun. ;)

6/7/2010

Deeanne Gist said...

What a wonderful memory, Ashley. You really should do it again. Grandparents are such a special blessing!

I'll try the blender, Susan. Great idea! I can't believe you have all those fruit trees, BrownEyes! That's so neat. I've never picked strawberries before, Sarah, but I love them. I bet they were amazing!

6/7/2010

Katybug said...

My husband and I went to Fredericksburg about 8 years ago and have been planning to go back. We're planning an anniversary get-away and think we may end up there again. It was such fun! We were told the secret of the Peachtree Restaurant's peach tea--it's INSTANT TEA!!! Still SO good! Thanks for the pictures! Gives me some ideas of what to do when we go. :-)

6/8/2010

Ashlee said...

A few years ago, my dad had to go to Montréal for business. My mom, sister, and I were planning to go with him, but I love road trips and didn't want to fly. So I begged and cajoled until everyone gave in and we decided to drive (we live in Alabama). On the way back, we went through Syracuse, NY, so my parents could reminisce (they lived there right after they got married, in the early eighties) and so we could go to their favorite apple orchard, Beak & Skiff. We picked 60 pounds of Paula Reds. Instead of stopping to eat anywhere for the next eighteen hours, we tossed whoever was hungry an apple. Every summer, my mom and I go to those You-Pick places. We always pick gallons and gallons of blueberries and strawberries.

6/9/2010

Aunt Carolyn said...

When we lived in TN, I remember picking lots of peaches along with apples, strawberries, corn, blackberries (you always came home with lots of chigger bites) and blueberries (where I was chased out of the patch by a black racer). Yummm Yummm I can still taste that sweet heavenly taste of a tree ripened peach with juice running down both arms. Wish I had a bowl of that fresh peach cobbler. For sure I would think that I've died and gone to heaven.

6/18/2010

Deeanne Gist said...

Hey, Aunt Carolyn. One of my favorite memories from Tennessee was picking blackberries on Papa's farm. And chasing lightening bugs in ya'll's backyard. We don't have lightening bugs down here in Houston. Too hot, I guess. :)

6/18/2010

Mocha with lLinda said...

What fun! I absolutely LOVE Fredericksburg peaches! I could tell it was summer when I had Texas peaches on my cereal the other day!

6/18/2010

Laura said...

New England is in its strawberry season. We enjoyed my husband's favorite dessert, angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream. It is hard to stop eating these juicy morsels. I love to go blueberry picking in July and peaches become ripe later in the month. We are so fortunate to live near the orchard that has all this yummy fruit. Not only are we getting quality produce, but supporting our local economy and farmers.

6/22/2010

Julia said...

Hey, Deeanne! You need to come up here to Robertson Co. the next time you want to pick fruit. There's a farm just outside of New Baden that has plums, peaches, dewberries & blackberries, and...best of all...BLUEBERRIES. Oh. My Gosh. It's beyond amazing--I think I now know what Heaven may smell like. And the difference between farm-picked and store-bought is just as great as with peaches! *now salivating at the memory*

6/23/2010

Heidi said...

Oh! We had fruit trees growing up and my favorite was the huge peach tree out front. *sigh* I loved to eat it like cereal--cut up in a bowl with a little sugar and milk. Wow, I miss that now! How fun for you guys!

6/25/2010

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