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.
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.