Our peaches were a big disappointment this year. Last year I canned 28 quarts of peaches, plus all that we ate during the season. This year I canned 5 quarts of peaches.
We had some red squirrels that were stealing 10 to 12 peaches a day, biting them, eating a bit and leaving them on the ground. So frustrating to see all the waste on the ground. I threw them to the chickens so they weren’t a total waste, but we couldn’t eat them. When most of the peaches seemed pretty ripe I ended up picking everything except a few that were very green and calling it a day just to keep the squirrels from eating anymore. They were even taking bites out of some on the tree, testing for ripeness I assume.
This is a huge blow to our pantry and very sad. We have labeled each jar to be used for someone’s birthday as we make pies for birthdays and peach pie is a favorite all around. The pies will be small, I usually use two quarts per pie, instead we will have only one.
My boys are really good helpers during canning time. With peaches they help slip the skins and cut them up, removing the pit.
Although we are sad that we won’t have more peaches to eat throughout the winter and spring, we are grateful for the fruit we do have and plan to enjoy these immensely on our birthdays!
The Santa Clara Valley used to be famous for fruit and nut orchards. Apricots and prunes were the most common fruits, and almost all were grown for drying. However, peaches were once grown here in Los Gatos. They were not as common as other fruits, and they were not dried, but were instead grown for canning in the canneries downtown. I have not grown those cultivars of peaches, but we did grow eating peaches and got enough to can. Because they were softer than than the canning peaches, we did not peel them. Squirrels did not bother them much, but every few years or so, the neighbors’ ‘gardeners’ strip ALL the ripe peaches. Back in about 2004 or so, just as the peaches were at their prime, my neighbor and I got all the canning equipment ready and washed everything to be ready to can the peaches the following Saturday. When we went down to collect the peaches, the tree was completely bare because the neighbor’s ‘gardeners came by to mow their lawn.
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That would be so sad and disappointin that must have been! I hope the Gardners did something with the fruit and didn’t just throw it away! Food waste our arch nemesis!
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They probably sold it at the flea market.
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At least they got used and not wasted.
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