9.3.14- Peaches

Well it's that time of year again. Canning. Late nights, long days, sore legs, cracked hands and a peaceful feeling of working hard, watching my kids gain skills, and filling my shelves!

This year I was shocked by the price of fruit and lacking in time and motivation to do a huge fruit run as I have in the past. So I spent a day searching for other options. One that popped up was u-pick peaches. I have never picked peaches. We go to the church orchard and serve there, and help our neighbor pick all her apples but never peaches for our use. I always just placed and order and went and picked it up thinking it would be better that way. Yet, as I watch my kiddos boundless energy and enthusiasm for eating, I knew it was probably time to make some changes.

 So we diddled around and did some housekeeping stuff Saturday morning while giving Greg time to wrap up or at least feel better about doing some work at the shop, we finally headed out around 10:30 to pick peaches. We had rounded up all the boxes we could find, and I had agreed, reluctantly, to take the trailer. Greg always wants MORE and MORE!

We are so blessed to live in such an abundant fertile valley. The trees were just right for parent and children picking not too high and full!

 We arrived at the orchard and went to work. It was fun!

 

Aliza was concerned she wouldn't be in any pictures as she was the photographer so here's some of her selfie's.

Livy had a ball being with the rest of us and enjoying the vibrant green that energizes and refreshes the soul.

 IT was not hard and it was sure delightful to taste those delicious juicy fresh peaches! We proceeded to pick 938 lbs of peaches in about 1.5 hours.

Note Millie with the peach the size of her head. She ate several.

The girls loved riding on the wagons although they often got bumped for more peaches to go to the trailer.

It was mostly a good experience. We ended the outing with pizza hut. So this week I am canning and canning and slowly canning. It's a good time to be alive, albeit with peach tummy aches, too much sampling during the day. The kids are eating windfall peaches, the ripe ones that fell to the ground.