Below, a picture of Rocky Mountain Orchard in Palisade, CO
Peach season is among us. To get the most out of peach season I’ve compiled information as to what best do with peaches, how to take care of them, and some interesting facts. Thus the peach handbook.
How you can preserve peaches to enjoy them throughout the year.
I’ve ran into people that can, freeze, and make jam out of peaches. By far most people just freeze them, the distant second is making jam (my favorite), and some people can them.
To freeze peaches
In my opinion freezing peaches is the easiest way to save them for later. And science has shown that reezing produce preserves the nutrition of the fruit, which is one of the largest benefits of buying fresh.
The best way to freeze peaches is to slice them, place them on cookie sheets where the slices aren’t touching each other and freeze them. Once they are frozen place them into a freezer bag and return them to the freezer until your taste buds call. This way the peach slices do not freeze together, and you can open the back and easily get the desired amount of peaches.
This option works great for those that enjoy morning shakes. The peaches are so sweet they can be used as the sweetener, and since they are frozen you don’t need to use ice.
To make Jam
There are many different methods to create jam, and it seems most families have their own method passed down from previous generations. These peaches are very sweet and I know many people that cut down on the sugar as a result.
I'll leave it up to you to find a desired recipe that meets your needs.
To can them
Canning peaches is fairly easy. I would write a tutorial, but there are many videos online that show much it much better than I could describe it. But I've found this to be a very good website http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-peaches.html.
How to get fresh peaches to last longer
Did you know you don’t want to refrigerate peaches? Did you know peaches can last for a couple of weeks, a lot longer then the typical few days?
Most of the time I find people place their peaches in the fridge but the fridge slowly takes the taste out of the peach and makes them ripen the wrong way. If you really love the peach taste, and big juicy peaches, go ahead and keep them on the counter like you do with bananas.
If you want your peaches to last for a long time, even up to a couple of weeks you can easily do that by keeping a close eye and taking the wet peaches away from the bunch. The skins of peaches will usually keep the peaches from going bad, but all it takes is one juicy peach to puncture and the escaped peach juice will make any peach that it touches to go bad within a day. And even though the fridge will remove the best of the taste, if you keep the ripe ones in the fridge they will last even longer.
Interesting facts
There are three kinds of peaches, cling-stone, semi-cling stone, and free-stone peaches. Cling-stone, and semi-cling stone peaches taste very good, but they aren’t what people generally think of a good summer peach. That award goes to free-stone peaches which will be around for the rest of the summer.
When I say stone it refers to the seed in the peach. If the fruit (meat) of the peach doesn’t come off the stone, then it is said to be cling-stone. Those are the first to ripen, they are generally small and don’t store well.
After the cling stone peaches come the semi-cling stone peaches. They are typically a bit larger, but the meat can still stick to the stone. If you live in Amarillo, or Lubbock these are the peaches you received in June.
Free-stone peaches are the best peaches, largest in size, in my opinion the best tasting, and since the meat easily comes off of the stone they are perfect for canning, freezing, and preserving. They are the last to ripen, but go from late June to late September.
A couple random facts about peaches. They are in the same biological family as roses.
Italy is the second largest producer of peaches...does that mean we should call them Peachi?
The first peach orchard in the US was in the 16th century in Florida.
What to expect this season
Peaches are the crown jewel of the summer, and the reason why Your Freshest Food is around. We begin with Fredericksburg peaches in June and July and once they are out of season we begin bringing peaches from Palisade, Colorado until the end of summer. These peaches are larger than Texas peaches, and can reach the size of small melons…no exaggeration.
Beginning in August we will be offering certified organic peaches far below market price, which is good for everyone. And as always we’ll bring whatever the farmers have, not just peaches.
Stay tuned for a peachy summer.
How you can preserve peaches to enjoy them throughout the year.
I’ve ran into people that can, freeze, and make jam out of peaches. By far most people just freeze them, the distant second is making jam (my favorite), and some people can them.
To freeze peaches
In my opinion freezing peaches is the easiest way to save them for later. And science has shown that reezing produce preserves the nutrition of the fruit, which is one of the largest benefits of buying fresh.
The best way to freeze peaches is to slice them, place them on cookie sheets where the slices aren’t touching each other and freeze them. Once they are frozen place them into a freezer bag and return them to the freezer until your taste buds call. This way the peach slices do not freeze together, and you can open the back and easily get the desired amount of peaches.
This option works great for those that enjoy morning shakes. The peaches are so sweet they can be used as the sweetener, and since they are frozen you don’t need to use ice.
To make Jam
There are many different methods to create jam, and it seems most families have their own method passed down from previous generations. These peaches are very sweet and I know many people that cut down on the sugar as a result.
I'll leave it up to you to find a desired recipe that meets your needs.
To can them
Canning peaches is fairly easy. I would write a tutorial, but there are many videos online that show much it much better than I could describe it. But I've found this to be a very good website http://www.simplycanning.com/canning-peaches.html.
How to get fresh peaches to last longer
Did you know you don’t want to refrigerate peaches? Did you know peaches can last for a couple of weeks, a lot longer then the typical few days?
Most of the time I find people place their peaches in the fridge but the fridge slowly takes the taste out of the peach and makes them ripen the wrong way. If you really love the peach taste, and big juicy peaches, go ahead and keep them on the counter like you do with bananas.
If you want your peaches to last for a long time, even up to a couple of weeks you can easily do that by keeping a close eye and taking the wet peaches away from the bunch. The skins of peaches will usually keep the peaches from going bad, but all it takes is one juicy peach to puncture and the escaped peach juice will make any peach that it touches to go bad within a day. And even though the fridge will remove the best of the taste, if you keep the ripe ones in the fridge they will last even longer.
Interesting facts
There are three kinds of peaches, cling-stone, semi-cling stone, and free-stone peaches. Cling-stone, and semi-cling stone peaches taste very good, but they aren’t what people generally think of a good summer peach. That award goes to free-stone peaches which will be around for the rest of the summer.
When I say stone it refers to the seed in the peach. If the fruit (meat) of the peach doesn’t come off the stone, then it is said to be cling-stone. Those are the first to ripen, they are generally small and don’t store well.
After the cling stone peaches come the semi-cling stone peaches. They are typically a bit larger, but the meat can still stick to the stone. If you live in Amarillo, or Lubbock these are the peaches you received in June.
Free-stone peaches are the best peaches, largest in size, in my opinion the best tasting, and since the meat easily comes off of the stone they are perfect for canning, freezing, and preserving. They are the last to ripen, but go from late June to late September.
A couple random facts about peaches. They are in the same biological family as roses.
Italy is the second largest producer of peaches...does that mean we should call them Peachi?
The first peach orchard in the US was in the 16th century in Florida.
What to expect this season
Peaches are the crown jewel of the summer, and the reason why Your Freshest Food is around. We begin with Fredericksburg peaches in June and July and once they are out of season we begin bringing peaches from Palisade, Colorado until the end of summer. These peaches are larger than Texas peaches, and can reach the size of small melons…no exaggeration.
Beginning in August we will be offering certified organic peaches far below market price, which is good for everyone. And as always we’ll bring whatever the farmers have, not just peaches.
Stay tuned for a peachy summer.
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