• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Home Garden Joy
  • Home
  • How to Garden
    • Seed Starting
    • Plant Profiles
    • Tools & Equipment
    • Raised Bed Gardening
  • Vegetables
  • Fruit
  • Herbs
  • About
    • Books & Classes
      • Herbalism Classes
      • Books for Christian Herbalists
      • Privacy Policy

The Experience of Fresh Peaches

July 19, 2011 by Jeanne

The experience of fresh peaches is one you will never forget if you grow your own fruit.

peach

Moths or not, they didn’t get them all. Some peaches were perfect.

The Experience of Fresh Peaches

Last night, my husband came into the living room with a small plate.  On the plate was a peach sliced into quarters.

“Here,” he said. “From the garden.”

Gingerly, I picked up a slice. It dripped with juice. I bit into it. The initial flavor burst was a fresh, light peach taste, followed by an aftertaste of vanilla.

It was heavenly. The experience of fresh peaches is one I won’t soon forget.

“This one was pretty good!” he said, happily munching on the rest of the slices.

We have four ripe peaches from the trees this year, a minor miracle considering:

  • We were told that the young trees would take several years to establish before bearing fruit.
  • The wet spring, followed by a hot and dry summer, seemed less than ideal for peaches.
  • We remembered to use the organic spray only twice – once in February, once after blossoms formed. I think the ideal is every two weeks. (But only one insect found in four peaches. Pretty good!)
  • Most of the peaches on the tree became moldy before ripening and fell off.
  • Some critter got hold of most of what was left and disappeared with them overnight.
  • Japanese beetles feast on the tree leaves every year.

But if this is a hint of things to come, I am glad we planted the fruit orchard. We have 27 trees total right now – apples including Golden Delicious, Stayman Winesap, Lodi and Jonathan; four Elberta peach trees;  Methly and Burbank plum trees, Bing and Black Tartanian cherry trees, Moorpark and Early Golden apricot trees.

When we see fresh fruit now, we rejoice. We sample it and marvel that we can actually pick fruit right from a tree in our yard.  I’m a city kid at heart, and nobody I knew in Floral Park had fruit trees. My grandma’s Bellerose Long Island garden, with its apple and pear trees and European kitchen garden, was considered an oddity in our suburban area. If people grew food at all, they grew a few tomatoes, since everybody knows that fresh tomatoes always trump store bought ones!

Once the trees produce fully, I’ll can the fruit, and we have plans to purchase a dehydrator so that I can dehydrate as much fresh fruit and fruit leathers as possible.  But that taste of amazing peach flavor was a taste of achieving a dream, one step closer to producing even more food right here on our own land.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Previous Post: « Three Native Perennials for Southern Gardens
Next Post: Keep Squirrels Away from Bulbs: Squirrel and Deer Proof Your Tulip Bulbs »

Primary Sidebar

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram

As Seen in Porch

 As Seen in Porch

We were featured in Porch.com and answered reader's questions about indoor plants.

Explore All Gardening Articles

a zucchini growing in a raised bed

Growing Zucchini in Raised Beds

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

raised bed garden

How to Build a Vegetable Garden Using Raised Beds

a watering can next to a seed tray on a sidewalk

What Veggies Can I Plant Now?

Herbalism Classes & Supplies

Goods Shop by Herbal Academy – botanically inspired products

Disclosure

Home Garden Joy participates in two affiliate programs: Amazon and The Herbal Academy. Home Garden Joy earns a commission from qualifying purchases as an Amazon Associate. As an Herbal Academy Associate, HGJ also earns a commission when you sign up for classes or purchase herbs or supplies from The Herbal Academy. Herbal information and recipes on this site are provided for educational purposes only.

Footer

butternut squash growing in a raised garden bed

How to Grow Butternut Squash Organically

Learning how to grow butternut squash organically ensures you know how to grow this tasty, nutritious vegetable in your home garden. I’ll share with you some basic information on growing butternut squash, followed by some organic gardening tips that have been helpful for me here at Seven Oaks Farm in dealing with the various pests…

Read More

herbs in a pink dish

How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea

Make the perfect cup of herbal tea, right from your own garden! In May, I gave two free talks on how to grow, harvest, dry, and create your very own herbal teas. This lecture proved so popular that I recorded the narration and uploaded it to YouTube. You can view it below: Supplies to Make…

Read More

tent caterpillars on a pear tree

How to Get Rid of Tent Caterpillars

I spent last Saturday morning getting rid of Eastern tent caterpillars from the apple and pear trees in the orchard here on the farm. Malacosoma americanum, the Eastern tent caterpillar, is a regular visitor each spring. We first spot the shimmery webs on a clear spring day. The small ‘tents’ built by the caterpillars quickly…

Read More

kale growing in a raised bed

Replenishing Raised Bed Garden Soil

Raised bed vegetable garden soil soil needs to be replenished periodically. If you’ve done your job right and selected great soil, and amended it with nice compost, you’re going to have super garden soil for the first few years. Because you don’t walk on a raised bed garden the way that you do with typical…

Read More

  • Privacy Policy
  • About
  • Awards

Copyright © 2025 Home Garden Joy on the Foodie Pro Theme