Peach Picking Paradise

A friend of the bishop of my sister and her husband (how's that for close?) offered his remaining peaches from his orchard for free picking, and we accepted! We decided to make it a Family Home Evening activity the last day of September. Unfortunately, Andrew had to work late every night that week, but it was fun to spend time with Amy & Nathan. The kids wrote about what we did during school, so I'll let them tell you about it in their own words.

BEAR

One day I went peach picking with Aunt Amy and Uncle Nathan. When I got so many peaches, my bag started to rip a hole in it and so I went, got another bag, and found a bigger bag, then I started to play a game. I would run and get a peach, then when my little bag was full, I would put it in my big bag, then when my big bag was full, I would put it in another big bag, then start all over again. It was fun! Then a lot of mosquitoes came and it looked like a big cloud of mosquitoes, and they were REALLY annoying! It was fun to go peach picking, although I hated the mosquitoes. It was fun because it was my first time going peach picking. OK, I'm done.

CHIEF

We picked peaches and we also climbed trees while we picked. I saw a really good looking peach and that tree had really good branches for climbing, so I jumped up and got it and then I put it in my bag. They tasted so good, and one that Nathan picked off the tree for me was the juiciest one I've ever had in my whole life! And a hole got in my bag, and then two peaches fell out and raced down the hill. Then Tyler got two more rotten peaches and raced those down the driving hill. Lots and tons and tons of mosquitoes bit me. They're so annoying! I love, love peaches and it was a great adventure! And I loved eating peaches off of the trees. And I'm glad I went with my aunt and uncle.

BELLE










I started a bite and then I gave it to Nathan and Nathan said it looked good and I thought it was juicy and my favorite in the whole world. I want to jump up and get a peach. And then do jumping jacks. I want a grapefruit. I want to write a book.

THE END.


We had so much fun picking the peaches, that I didn't really stop to think I'd have to DO SOMETHING with them. We filled this counter completely three times at least, which basically means we had hundreds of peaches. So I spent the next week pretending I was a self-reliant, expert homemaker.

I tried my hand at canning, which I have done before, but never alone. I think it goes much better when you do it with someone who happens to know what they are doing! My poor aunt got several phone calls over the week with questions like: "So, when you want to can peaches, first you peel and cut them, right? Then what?" My dad happened to be in town, and he gave me several tips as well. I'm still impressed Dad. I didn't know he could can. Guess that's a side effect of being married to my mom. I also found this site very helpful.

Esther and I made jam...lots and lots of jam.

And then when I got tired of pretending, I froze everything else.

All in all, it was fun (I can say that now that my kitchen isn't completely covered in all things peach!). I'm especially grateful to Amy & Nathan, their bishop, and the unknown friend who offered the free peaches in the first place. And of course to everyone who helped me along in my quest to keep all those peaches from going to waste. We sure are enjoying them!