Plums Aplenty, and Tomatoes Too
Five evenings in a row I have waded through our yard in bare feet, stopped before one of our two overburdened fruit trees, and plucked plumped-up plums or peaches from the branches. I eat as if standing over a sink, bent at the waist and legs spread, letting the sun-warmed juice pour out of the wounds I make in the fruit’s flesh and drip into the summer-thick grass. A peach stain on a T-shirt can mark it for life, but in this desert the grass is greedy for moisture.
While the plum tree has been in business since long before we bought our house, the peach is a new addition, tucked into the ground just three years ago. The woman at the garden center instructed us to nip off all infant fruits for several years so the tree could settle. I would not have obeyed, but the decision was made for us. Until this summer it withheld its treasures from us, choosing instead to grow and spread. And this year, like a gift, it is heavy with peaches, small and sweet and beautiful.
We have more, though, than our twin trees, all flourishing in turn, overlapping their seasons so we always have something fresh and delicious from last frost to first snow. The sugar snaps this spring grew fat on their vines as the tomato plants rooted and flowered. And when the peas withered and died in the summer heat, the tomatoes took over, the plants filling with engorged red orbs.
In July the tiny green globes on our neighbor’s apricot tree, which graciously spans into our backyard, swelled into sweet orange fruits, just waiting for my hands to pluck and eat, one after the other. And eat I did, pulling the fruits from the sun-dappled branches overhead, closing my eyes as the flavor burst on my tongue.
The apricots have long since ceased production and the last of the peaches went to my parents last night. Soon our plum tree will be free of fruit, the bounty shared with friends and family and neighbors, but the first of our cucumbers is now begging to be picked. This evening we will have salads in celebration.
Some people own stoic mansions hidden behind sweeping gates; swimming pools brimming with cool, blue water; low, shiny sports cars that hug the curves in the road at any speed. But a garden and fruit trees are, to me, the greatest of luxuries.
I am the stay-at-home mother to a toddler nicknamed 
Hooray for summer gardening. I love it. I am glad to hear that the fruit from your trees is tasty. For some reason, when I was growing up, our peach tree never produced very tasty peaches. If you ever feel over-burdened with cucumbers, PLEASE give me a call! They are my favorites!
I. Am So. Jealous.
Do you ever have enough to can/dry/save? I always want to do that with our lemons–make marmalade or something–but the process of canning always holds me back.
My, my, this post made me hungry! And was very inspirational as well. Bruce and I moved into a new place three years ago and now, this year, we are planning our garden. So far, blueberry bushes and tomatoes, two of our favorites (that will grow well in our climate/back yard).
I have to go have lunch.
Katie, our peaches were delicious, but I’ve never been able to produce a yummy green pepper and I think you said you could, so we can consider ourselves even. And if I have extra cucumbers, which I often do, you’re welcome to them. Want some plums, too?
Pam, I never have done any canning or drying, although I probably should attempt it sometime. It just seems like a lot of work. I’ve tried to find some good recipes to use my plums in, and haven’t been impressed so far. But if we ever have as many peaches as we do plums, I’m definitely going to make jam or pie or something with them. And since I’ll only attempt jam if I have tons and tons of peaches, I’ll be giving jars of the stuff away. You know, if you want one… (Hey, I’m part Italian. I feed people. What can I say?)
Enjoy your lunch, Conda! And good luck with your garden. I’m so jealous of your blueberry bushes. Berries don’t grow well around here, or we’d have plenty of those, too.
Yum!
Your post made me miss some of our old homes… especially our home in Italy.
Your bounty sounds fantastic! I’ve been tempted to give canning a try, but starting with tomato sauce since it’s acidic enough to not need the pressure canning steps.
I don’t know how well plums would freeze, but frozen peaches would make great smoothies mid-winter. Apricots do dry really well, so that might be worth trying if you have enough extras.
We planted tomato’s again this year and they are JUST now bearing lovely fruit. For some reason, my hubs planted a cayenne pepper plant and we have no idea what to do with them! *G* You’re making me want a fruit tree! Enjoy all of summer’s bounty. Fall will be here soon.
I can almost taste those peaches! Lucky you!
Oh, Angela! I bet you had some amazing food in Italy. I can just imagine.
Jenifer, I didn’t know that about tomatoes. That’s good to know. We don’t have as many this year since I planted fewer tomato plants, but maybe next year I’ll go back to my usual number. As for apricots, I wanted to do something with them but ran out of time. They had just started to ripen when we left for California, and I just couldn’t take on such a major project then. Next year, maybe.
Enjoy your tomatoes, Brandy! Not much beats the taste of a garden-fresh tomato. And, yes, I am very much in favor of fruit trees. They aren’t too expensive, either. Plus you know how safe the fruit is. We, for example, don’t use any pesticides, and we can’t get the same guarantee at the grocery store.
Cam, I just love peach season. You must have some good ones available in your grocery store, at least.
Wow, that post was so beautifully written I felt like I could actually taste that peach!
And you’re right– a garden is a wonderful thing to have-
Love this post! My grandkids have apple and peach trees. I have five tomato plants. I love eating my tomatoes with a salt shaker in one hand. Brings up some great memories.
Back in nineteen-eighty-something, when those of us in California were stripping everything fruit-like from our yards (even pyrecantha berries, and those are not fun to remove — thorns) as part of the battle with the medfly, our peach tree was dutifully stripped each year. One year, though, we missed three peaches on a branch which had been hanging over the roof of the pool house. My mom spotted them later that summer, while floating in the pool, and went up and picked them. They were the largest, juiciest, most succulent peaches anyone who tried them had ever tasted. All the oomph of the tree had gone into those three fruits, and it showed.
Angie
Thanks, Alyson. It’s actually one of the fastest blog posts I’ve written. Guess I woke up in a descriptive mood. Peaches can do that to a person, I think.
LaDonna, I’d love to have an apple tree. Someday, perhaps. And isn’t it wonderful when the tomatoes are still warm from the sun, and you’re just standing out there by your garden eating them one by one? Yum. Makes me hungry just thinking about it.
Oh, Angie, California peaches are AMAZING! So are the plums. When we were there a few weeks ago, I bought tons of them. And the strawberries. Wow. Our fruit is delicious, yes, but it’s nothing compared with California fruit. It’s just more convenient. And, you know, free.
You made me ravenous just reading this!! What a beautifully written post–I could SEE the juice dripping from the rippened fruit, almost TASTE the tangy sweetness…
I, however, will admire your harvesting talents from afar, as I have none of my own. My son has a delightful little-kid garden, with the most delicious cherry tomatoes… But two black thumbs and several decades of experience killing poor, unsuspecting plants have taught me I can best help the cause by keeping my distance
.
I actually tasted the peach, drifted off into a garden and thought, oh wow… Yes, nature is truly amazing.
I also believe the most simple things in life are the best.
Damn the convertible, and the sipping of whatever type of exotic drink they devour. For me, a simple drink. the fruit of the land, and love in my heart…I can go places.
I think your post did something to my brain. lol
Suz:)
Wow. What great writing. And the peaches sound heavenly!
Beautifully written post, Caryn. Yum. Now, I’m hungry.
Marilyn, if your son is harvesting a lot of cherry tomatoes, he must have inherited a green thumb from somewhere. Here’s hoping he’ll at least share his bounty with you.
Loved your phrasing, Suz! And the most a amazing thing is that fruit is so good for you. Just adds to the pleasure, I suppose.
Joanne, they were delicious! Though I think the fact that I was able to pick them off a tree in my own backyard probably added to the flavor.
Sorry, Keri!
I’ve been trying my hand at gardening for years, and generally end up with 2-3 smallish tomatoes and an overgrown patch of cilantro for my effort (I planted that stuff about 5 years ago, and it won’t die!). Wait, there was a watermelon one year (which my husband and I shared at the hospital after I gave birth to our first child).
Last fall we planted a few, new, teeny-tiny fruit trees. I’m hoping they decide to bless us with fruit sometime int he future, thuogh I’m afraid our one peach sapling looks more dead than alive this summer. Goodness knows that the johnathon apple tree I planted 3 or 4 years ago has yet to bother.
Congratulations on your summer bounty!
Yummy! I’m jealous that you can walk in your yard barefoot. Ours is laden with hill country rocks.
We have a peach tree too. This year was the first we beat the deer, birds, and bugs to the beautiful bounty it produced. So sweet and succulent, I was in heaven.
I made a special page just to highlight some recipes I’ve tried from the Internet and made up on my own. One recipe I found was for peach cobbler. I never made cobbler before but we had so many peaches, I didn’t want them to go to waste. I included a photo of peaches we picked from our tree and the cobbler I made:
http://www.squidoo.com/food-recipes
I hope we can win the race to the peaches again next year! It’s delightful to eat something you know has no chemicals or preservatives.
plums and peaches?! sigh. jealous: party of 1!
That sounds just lovely. I hope soon we’ll be able to start and keep up our own garden.
You ought to try canning! I hear it’s pretty easy and then you can enjoy the fruits of your labor in wintertime too. But, I’ve never tried it myself…
I’d like to put my jam order in now please! You’ve got my mouth watering. We’ve got an apricot tree and I love eating them right off the branch! Good luck with your fall harvest!
Yum. And beautifully written. I need to get myself to a farmer’s market.
Keri, I’m so jealous of your watermelon! I’ve never successfully grown one, although my vines usually look great. If all I wanted was greenery I’d be set. And good luck with your sad sapling. I hope it is soon invigorated.
Muse, sorry about the rocks. It’s taken a few years for us to get to the point where we can walk barefoot in it. The grass was this weird prickly variety when we moved in. Oh, and your cobbler recipe sounds delicious. I do love cobbler.
LOL! Love your phrasing, Virginia!
Erin, for some reason canning makes me nervous, probably because I’ve never tried it. If I ever have a big enough bounty to make it worth it, though, I’ll give it a try. If you do it first, let me know how it turns out!
Sure thing, Robin! What flavor? Actually, we didn’t get enough peaches for jam, but I could probably swing some plum jam. Enjoy your apricots! They’re delicious right off the tree, aren’t they?
Alyssa, we have a wonderful farmers’ market here in town, and it supplements the produce I can’t or didn’t grow. Unfortunately, I often forget to go until it’s wrapping up. I need to be better about it.
We have apple and pear trees. While we enjoy them- so do the bears who live in the woods near our home. It makes for some interesting back yard encounters.
mm, yes you’re making me crave peaches! sounds so delicious.
Oh, Eileen! I can see how that could definitely be a problem. I hadn’t even thought about that.
Emily, now that we’ve run out we’ve been able to find some delicious ones at the grocery store. I love peach season, even when the fruit in question doesn’t come directly from one of my trees.
My mouth is watery as I type. Oh sweet peaches, plucked in barefeet – summer just doesn’t get any better. My first “house” in Moab had a fantastic apricot and peach tree and I’ve never enjoyed either fruit more than I did, strolling out in the morning to select my breakfast from the tree limbs.
My garden has been far less fruitful this summer. We’ve managed to harvest 1 green pepper, no squash (though lovely flowers on the squash plant), and just this weekend I ate my first home-grown tomatoe of the season. There should be many more little red treats to come over the next few weeks.
My god, if your blog posts are this poetic, I can’t wait to read one of your books!
We used to have a garden a long time ago, but it kept getting destroyed by the local wildlife (bunnies, deer, etc…), so we stopped. We still had tomatoes on the porch for a few years after that, because they’re supposed to help with bugs, but they didn’t last, either!
I’d love to have fruit trees/plants around, because fruit if my favorite. Apples and peaches… Mmm… I’m hungry.