A Summer Delight: Fredericksburg Peaches (and some blackberries!)

Around these parts, it's not summer without some amazing Fredericksburg peaches. After being spoiled by Georgia peaches, we knew we also had to can some Texas peaches to enjoy throughout the year. For the first time, we ventured to a you-pick farm just outside Fredericksburg and harvested two great varieties: Red Globe (the best!) and Majestic. We were also fortunate to sneak in before the end of the blackberry season so we could secure some fruit for our wonderful blackberry and lavender jam.

Caught red-handed

Two half-bushels of fruit equals about 160 peaches!

kissing peaches

Where did you go? Lost in the peach tree

A sunflower field during the drive

Big and Little Peppers

One of my favorite flavors of the year, sweet and hot

A large red Carmen (our favorite), a large yellow Ringo, and a small orange Yummy along with some red Serranos

L + T...now that's sweet!

Saving the Tomato Harvest

Our first attempt to grow tomato plants seems a success. Our 31 plants produced a delicious array of flavorful and colorful tasting temptations. Our favorites are the Red Brandywine and most especially the Pink Brandywine. The Top Producer award goes to the Blondkopfchen, hands down. Our plants were covered in  fruit all season long. At one point our harvests began to take over the kitchen table. When my mom joked about having 500 tomatoes in the kitchen, I sat down to count each one. Despite having spent the morning preserving the multitude of cherry tomatoes by drying, freezing, and cooking, we still had 364 tomatoes in the kitchen!

364 tomatoes...and some onion and garlic

A closeup of our many heirlooms

Brandywine...start salivating

Frozen cherry tomato art...featuring the numerous Blondkopfchen

Little tomato ice cubes

Adapting the solar oven to dehydrate tomatoes

Wildflowers put on Stunning Display

June 7, 2012

I think the wildflower meadow is more beautiful now than at any other point so far. It is a riot of bold reds and yellows and soft purples too. What amazing beauty there is in our native plants - and no supplemental water necessary!

Butterflies love Zinnias

A beautiful female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly spent some long moments enjoying our zinnias!

Giant Sunflower

Our tallest giant sunflower is finally in bloom. I love seeing its cheerful face in the garden when I take care of the chickens in the morning.

 

Early Summer Bounty

As the days start heating up here, we have found ourselves with less time to spend in the garden as jobs demand more of our time. Fortunately, the plants are established and require little care other than harvesting and watering, due to our lack of rain here. We have been thrilled with the bounty and variety in our garden, including delicious corn (Here in Texas the saying should be "Dead and dry by the 4th of July"), tons of tomatoes, okra, eggplant, a few tomatillos, peppers, and winter squash.