In a jam
Growing your own is all about gluts and famines, and preserving, whether making jam, chutney or freezing, is your friend. The peaches have been slowly ripening over the past week or so and it is tempting to leave them on the tree until fully ripe. The main problem is that, when ripe, they bruise easily and it is almost impossible to pick them without them getting damaged.
But then something happens to make the job urgent. And in this case it is the wasps. They have suddenly invaded the polytunnel, munching away at the grapes, which are a lost cause now, and moving in on the peaches. So I picked all the fruit and cut back the tree. Last weekend I made several batches of peach ice cream, one swirled with the jostaberry jam I made the same day – which turned out to be a great addition – the tartness of the jam really adding to the flavour.
But today will be peach jam day, to use the remaining fruits before the wasps ruin them all. They are in the greenhouse to ripen but the wasps have found them and time is running out. The best have been sold at the gate and I even gave out samples. Most people are amazed to taste a fresh, ripe peach which is so different to the shop-bought, ripen-at-home, peaches. My one regret is probably that these peaches are white-fleshed and while they are incredibly juicy and tasty, the flesh browns really quickly when cut. (The variety is ‘Amsden’ though I can’t see how it is different to ‘Peregrine’ which I have grown in the past). So I have to prepare them straight into a bowl of water with some added citric acid to prevent browning. The white flesh also results in ice cream and, I suspect, jam, that is rather muddy coloured and not orange. But it will taste the same.
The onions have been a bit slow after a very dry June which restricted growth, but they are swelling now. After a few hiccoughs with various sets over the years I am back to seed this year and am growing ‘Keravel’ again this year. None have bolted. This is the ‘Roscoff’ onion so loved by chefs and the kind that would be sold in the UK by ‘Onion Johnnies’ who cycled around with strings of onions, though I am too young to remember this. The onions are pinkish, have a sweet flavour and should store well though I never have enough to worry about long storage. The small plants are pulled as spring onions (scallions). You rarely see Roscoff onions in the shops so they are worth growing for that reason alone but they seem to do well here. Soon they should fall over and I can start to dry them but the weather is not conducive to that at the moment! Better to stay in out of the rain and boil jam!
The Biking Gardener 
This is why all of the kids I grew up with in the Santa Clara Valley dislike apricots. It was always excessive.
Shame about those peaches…
Well the jam is on the boil now. Too much for one pan so am experimenting by putting some brandy in the small pan to see if it works or not. Peaches and Brandy seem perfect partners.
Sounds good to me…
I remember being in that area and gorging on apricots! But then, it was a novelty!
I’m so disappointed, 90% of the peach crop in Georgia,USA where I usually get my peach fix each year was decimated by a unseasonably warm February followed by a cold snap in April or March. I’m jealous of your abundance. Peach & brandy sounds amazing 😋
That is serious! Peaches are synonymous with Georgia. Things are getting more difficult for growers everywhere. Our weather has been OK by comparison though June was hot and dry and this month has been cloudy and wet. But crops in the polytunnel have been OK. Jam now setting – I hope. If not it will be called peach sauce.
Yum yum! I wish I lived nearby so I could avail of your ‘stall’ produce!