In 2012 the USDA upgraded my area from
Plant Hardiness Zone 4b to 5a. The zones are based on decades of climate data and tell you what plants will survive in your region. So, thanks to climate change, my little corner of the world has warmed enough to get a new designation on a gardening map. That's a little scary...but hey, look on the bright side, now I can grow peaches with confidence that they will survive the winter.
We planted two peach trees in 2011, but this is the first year that they really produced fruit. A bumper crop, I might add.
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| One of our two peach trees, summer 2013 |
They are, hands-down, the best peaches I have had in years. Store bought peaches are always hard, mealy, and flavorless. These are so sweet and juicy you have to slurp them up while you bite into them.
The only challenge is how to deal with this delicate, and short-lived crop. I have given many away to friends and family. That took care of maybe half of them. Luckily, I have a good friend who is teaching me how to can and preserve food. We spent a morning halving, peeling, and pitting the peaches, converting some into peach jam, and preserving the rest in a light syrup.
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| peach peels |
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| peach jam |
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| peaches in light syrup sealing in the canner |
We sampled the peach jam, it was amazing. It will be such a treat to open these up in the middle of winter for a taste of summer. Back at home I added some fresh peach pieces into homemade vanilla ice cream. Yum! Next up will be harvesting and preserving our pear crop.
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| Vanilla/peach ice cream made by me. The peaches are a bit hard to see | , but they're in there! |
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