Boo Boo's Peach tree harvest is long over. It produced a very large crop of delicious fruit this year, but sadly we were unable to eat them all. We put quite a lot in the freezer, but now we have two more trees that are over-producing.
These are what's known here as Peches de Vigne, the trees are quite commonly found at the end of vineyard rows; possibly planted to feed the hungry grape pickers. They are a more rustic variety than Boo Boo's, and are reproduced simply by the planting of a Peach stone.
As you can see, they are smaller than the more cultivated Peaches, but they don't lack in flavour, or juiciness.
Both our trees are loaded. I always advise everyone here to carry a small pocket knife with them and eat a few every time they pass by, they really are delicious; and plentiful.
Our Figs are now also now ripening, and trying to keep-up with everything is impossible. If we were to be here through Winter I would bottle the Figs as I have always done in the past. But I'm not taking preserves back to the UK. There are peaches grapes figs and apples everywhere. The Hornets are already feasting on them instead of us!
The Reine de Renette apples (below) have done really well this year; last year there were none. They are the French equivalent of the English Cox; but nowhere near as good.
Perhaps a dehydrator would help turn some of the fruit into forms you could enjoy with your cheeses over the winter.
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea for next year. I shall have a look to see how much a machine would cost. We used to 'sun dry' tomatoes, and preserve them in Olive oil; they were wonderful.
DeleteOh, such luxury. You should see the price of such bounty here in our shops.
ReplyDeleteTheir luxury isn't lost on us. We are always amazed by such crops!
DeleteI miss tree-fresh peaches. The supermarket ones just do not compare. I buy them and eat them, but fresh from the tree and warm from the sun with juice dripping off your chin and down your arm, is the very best.
ReplyDeleteOne of life's great delights. I shall go and eat a few more in a minute.
DeleteMost of the peaches here are terrible this year, as are the Avocados. Earlier this week I bought just one large peach which looked absolutely gorgeous. When I cut into it, it was bad right through, yet looked perfect on the outside.
ReplyDeleteYou can't beat an English Cox's - the apples here sold as similar are nothing like them.
I planted a Cox up at the barn. Sadly the barn is now sold, so other than scrumping a few we shall not benefit.
DeleteI agree that English cocks are much finer than French cocks. Generally bigger and tastier too.
ReplyDeleteYes, and the much smaller Hens are very good too.
DeleteI hope this dialogue is referring to poultry...Otherwise I'll have to find my smelling salts.
DeleteI hope so too!
DeleteEnjoy the last of the summer fruits.
ReplyDeleteIt'll be UK supermarket fruit-n-vegs next week.
DeleteWe haven't tasted a decent peach this summer. I'd love a kilo of those
ReplyDeleteYou'd cry if you saw the ground beneath our Peach trees! There are hundreds.
DeleteIt is kind of sad to see all that outstanding fresh and delicious fruit drop to the ground. Our grocery store fruit is tasteless and terrible. Wilson Farm (Lexington, MA) used to provide outstanding produce. This year their tomatoes are the size of grapefruit and tasteless. They must be genetically modified for mass production. Terrible.
ReplyDeleteIt is very sad, but it's typical of country life. Everyone has too much of everything, and the wastage is huge. My good friend who lets me pick Tomatoes has them all over the ground. If I was staying on a bit longer I would have bottled some.
DeleteWhy not bottle some and leave it in the pantry for when you arrive next year?
ReplyDeletePeaches are not easy to preserve. Bottled they become far too sweet. We did freeze some which were very nice, but adding sugar to them isn't.
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