Green Peaches, Anyone?

Hello again, friends!

I think I’ve mentioned once or twice that we have some fruit trees on our property. Two of them are peach trees, and we recently added a third one. This year is the first time either of the two older peach trees actually produced. Everyone was thrilled to see all the little green fruit forming. Micah would come bursting back into the house after walking past one of them, exclaiming, “That peach tree is loaded!”

Well, he was right. The trees are loaded. So much so that we weren’t sure if it was safe for the branches to carry so much weight. I did some research and found out we were right – peach trees are notorious for producing more fruit than they can carry safely.

That led to more research, where I found out that thinning peaches while they are still green and small is best. It is good not only for the health of the tree, but it also helps the peaches that are left grow bigger and taste better. “Small” means about the size of a large marble or a green walnut – before the pits are fully formed and hard. Well, that is right where our peaches are, so the other day I went and started on thinning.

Everything was wet from recent rains, so between dodging drops of water and shaking “peach slime” (it’s called gummosis) off my hands, I wasn’t able to get a whole lot done before it was time to start supper. But it was a start!

Now, the question is, what do I do with all these hard, sour, fuzzy, green balls? I hate to waste food if there is a good way to use it. That meant another trip to the internet. Sometimes all the info out there can get overwhelming. But in this case, it was a great help in answering questions I never would have dreamed I’d be asking a few years ago.

From pickled green peaches to green peach pie and even fermented versions, I found more ideas than I expected. I plan to start with pickling some and then maybe try my hand at chutney. I’ve never made it, never tasted it, and barely heard of it—so it’s bound to be an adventure!

I’ll definitely share how it all turns out for anyone curious to try the same. And if you’ve ever used green peaches in your kitchen, I’d love to hear what you made!

Until next time!