P E A C H E S !
We have peaches in the neighborhood! Okay, well in the neighborhood next to my neighborhood.
This post a follow up to the posts:
I am not sure where to begin – should I start with the crabapple harvest, the additional apple tree, the pears, or the peach tree? Okay, I know where I will start: with a little update from the previous posts on the fruit I have “liberated” from neglected trees in neighborhood I ride my bike and walk around.
Sour Cherries
In the post The Fruits of My Neighborhood, Part II, I share my discovery of a sour cherry tree in the neighborhood I walk and bike in. The lovely blogger from Zippy Quilts advised that I should confirm these are actually cherries and not ornamental berries from a similar looking tree.
We took at sample of one of the cherries to our local nursery which specializes in native plants and they verified that the fruit was indeed a sour cherry. As mentioned in the same post, I have them bagged and frozen for future use.
A friend gave me a great recipe for individual cherry pies; so that plan is to make up little pies in dough and freeze them, then bake a couple at a time. I am also thinking of making little hand pies: Mmmmm – cherry hand pies!
Pears
In the same post I mentioned there are pear trees in the neighborhood that I am waiting for their fruit to ripen. My friend Michele posted that pears ripen off the tree and shared this informative link: http://www.oregonfresh.net/education/commodities/pears.php
I used this link to determine when to pull the pears of the tree (I had pulled some tester pears off too soon; they never ripened off the tree and I had to compost them) and I am hoping the latest batch of pears will ripen soon on my dining room table!
More Apples!
In addition to pears in the photo above, you will see some apples (and some peaches which I will discuss a little later).
In my post The Fruits of My Neighborhood, I share my discovery of a green apple tree and the subsequent delicious apple pie I made from my haul (I picked enough neglected green apples for my neighbor, who loves to bake, to also make a pie).
Well I discovered another neglected apple tree (at a very neglected looking and perhaps vacant house). I am not sure what variety of apple but they taste quite delicious with my morning oatmeal! I was only able to liberate a couple apples as most were rotted on the ground or had worms. Too bad, there were some beautiful apples on the ground.
Here is the current fruit bowl on my dining table filled with “liberated” pears, apples and peaches (yes I took this photo with my new Instagram app now that I have embraced Instagram…”welcome to the 21st century Tierney”):
Crabapples
I was on a bike ride last week, and came upon this sign attached to a tree:
Oh my – Someone wants help liberating their fruit!!! How could I refuse?!?!
Luckily I had my “fruit liberating sack” (copyright pending, ha!) with me and I proceeded to fill up it up with delicious ripe crabapples. While I was filling up my bag, the homeowner came out and chatted with me for a while.
She was so happy I was taking the fruit and I shared with her my adventures of “liberating” other fruit in the neighborhood and pie making. She told me of the delicious crabapple butter she and her Mom made last year with the crabapples; but she could not keep up with them this year and was hoping they would not just go to waste.
I told her – “I am here for you!” which got quite the laugh from the homeowner.
Below is my bike filled with crabapples in my “fruit liberating sack”:
I got enough for myself and my neighbor who likes to bake/cook. I researched online how to freeze them (Crabapples: University of Alaska Extension); and froze two (2) large bags of crabapples for our Fall cooking adventures (you can freeze for up to 3 months).
And Finally, Peaches
Imagine going on a walk with your dogs in the morning and you can pluck a ripe peach from a tree and munch on it as you walk. Is this a scene from the State of Georgia? No this was my morning walk in Central Oregon!
I did not know we could even grow peaches in Central Oregon. Our high desert hot and dry climate does not remotely seem like the correct climate for peaches. But then what do I know of horticulture?
Here is the lovely peach tree, with peaches falling from the tree as they ripen:
And here is my haul of peaches – not sure if I want to make a peach cobbler or just enjoy them each day as they get riper and riper (and juicier and juicier). Funny thing as I was never really interested in store bought peaches. But peaches right off the tree – fruit heaven!
What’s next in my “Fruit Liberation” quests? Well I have spotted some plums and possibly some nectarine like fruit that will be coming into season in the upcoming weeks.
The interesting thing is that before embracing simpler living I would never have been interested in “liberating” fruit from neglected fruit trees. Truthfully, in the past I did not eat that much fruit in my daily diet. Terry the Quilting Husband and I live a much healthier existence since changing our lifestyle a couple years ago (though it was a process that began with moving to Central Oregon in 2005). But that is another future post on our “Minimalism Journey”…
POSTSCRIPT
Instead of a “Monday at the Butte” (see my previous posts on hiking Pilot Butte), yesterday I did a “Sunday at the Butte” with my friend Jenny. We hiked Pilot Butte and then went for coffee and pastries! We figured we had earned our pastries!
Here are a couple photos – the summit of Pilot Butte (I never tire of this view); the selection of pastries at the local bakery/coffee shop; and a beautiful color combination on the table we sat:
Enjoy your week and here is a sign I came across at a tea shop a couple of weeks ago as a closing “food for thought”:
Ahhhh. . . you really got me with the peaches. I’m glad you got apples, pears, cherries, crab apples, but when you came upon ripe peaches, I have to admit my jealousy, covetousness, and envy. Eat while ripe; you can always find store-bought peach jam and preserves and pies and other nonsense like that. I will think of you as I enjoy an ordinary little orange.
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Ha! Oh Martha sorry I cannot send a peach to you through the Internet! Hope your orange was tasty 😀
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That is pretty darn nifty. Now that is a good sale!
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Thanks Dawn 🙂 it is a good sale!
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An adventurous produce maven! It reminds me of car rides scouring the fence rows looking for wild blackberries. The gathering aspect is so natural and feels so good.
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Good point – I bet it is instinctual and that is why it is so pleasing – foraging for my food! When I lived in Seattle, WA we used to go blackberry scavenging and then make pie, that was fun also. 🙂
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Do you live in a great neighborhood, or what!?!
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Yes I do, I am so glad I learned to appreciate it by slowing down, looking around me and noticing the fruits 🙂
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How cool that you have so many wonderful fruit trees within arms reach. Fresh is always best. We have a cherry tree in our yard and I love going out ti grab a snack from my own yard.
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Cherry tree? Be right over with my Fruit Liberating Sack – ha! Thanks for your comment!
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LOL! I would love to have you visit! You are very welcome.
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Wow!! Love your fruits. The only fruits I get in Singapore are from the supermarket ha ha
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Thanks for your comments and hello there in Singapore!😀
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Hello back to you….in Australia?😊
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US – Pacific NW
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Yes!!! I used to live in Eugene, Oregon and I loved the Pacific NW….drive all the way to Canada or down south to SF.😊 No wonder the fruits look great ha ha!
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It’s like you live in a magical land – kinda like the Willy Wonka Factory, but with fruit! Gosh I’m a bit jealous. I’m going to have to scope out my neighbourhood on my bike this summer, see if I can find any abandoned fruit trees. Lol. Great job.
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Thank you and since slowly changing/evolving my life to be in the present moment and enjoy and appreciate my immediate surroundings, I have had wonderful discoveries. (They may be just in mind and a sane person would not get that excited but hey it works for me – ha!)
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I would be as excited as you. lol.
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