September 1

Who's picking our peaches

Colorado College freshmen take a trip before classes start in the fall. The purpose is to help new students bond and answer their questions and fears about college with the tutelage of older student leaders. Their activities are of a service nature, rather than recreational.

We've hosted several groups of freshmen over the past several years. They camp at the foot of the apple orchards and help on our farm and two other nearby farms. This year's students represented eight countries including the United States!

The timing is such that either our apples or peaches are ready to harvest. The kids get up early when the fruit is firmest due to our chilly nights, wash their hands according to food handler specs, and fill the totes. We teach them how to judge whether the fruit is ready to come off the tree and the proper way to pick it without bruising so casualties are kept to a minimum.

Luke, who's also starting school soon, says, "Yes, they're slow but there's fifteen of them!" We then drive the totes to our new barn where we have tables set up to sort and box the peaches. The boxes head right into the cooler set at 34°F.

For the past week or so we were fortunate to have a previous intern, Amanda, plus good friends Cec, Robert, Trevor, and Tim helping out as well!! Robert caught a beautiful trout he grilled on apple wood, the farm provided fresh tomatoes and potatoes, and we enjoyed not only the "Glory Work" but the bounty as well.

Give your peaches the cold shoulder

If you absolutely can't eat another perfect peach, but they sit there eyeing you, consider freezing them to use later on ice cream, in smoothies and baked goods. On a snowy January day you can fill your house with the aromas of peach jam bubbling on the stove!

I have frozen peaches successfully in their natural state when I plan to use them in smoothies. If I'm going to use peaches for ice cream or pies later, then I'll add sugar, lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh which helps a frozen peach keep its structure and color once out of the freezer.

• Start with mature ripe peaches
• Wash peaches to remove fuzz and slice with skins on (Red Globe skins make a pretty color and skins are thin) or dip peach into boiling water until skins slide off easily, a matter of seconds, then slice, halve or quarter
• I put all the prepped peaches into a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice or Fruit-Fresh if desired. Then I transfer to quart bags or plastic freezer containers and sprinkle a tablespoon or so of sugar every third of the way to top.
• Leave a bit of head room for expansion
• Move to freezer as soon as possible
• Apply to ice cream in a semi frozen state, almost like fresh! Don't let them completely thaw for smoothies either. I think that for most things, frozen peaches are easier to work with partially thawed because they retain their juices better.

That's all there is to it! I've heard of people freezing whole peaches, but never tried it myself. Let me know if it works for you.

Pick a good peach and treat it right

I've heard stories and seen peaches in this year's marketplace that are green. I know there are some farmer's who want the premium price of an early harvest whether their produce is ready or not, but we prefer good customer relationships instead. How to pick a good peach and treat it right?

• If it has the slightest tinge of green anywhere, don't buy it. It will never ripen properly.
• If you can depress the shoulder, (area at the top of peach surrounding the stem) with a firm but light touch, this peach is close to ripe or ripe. Experience is the best teacher here. Don't squeeze or poke a peach anywhere else, peaches are fragile.
• Store peaches at near freezing (colder than most fridges) or room temperature. Otherwise the "dead temp zone" will turn your peach into a mealy bland spheroid beyond consumption.

All the best, Max & Wink.