Planted two peach trees here in colorado 5 years ago. Picked 12 boxes off each.
If you have room split peaches, lay them on a cookie sheet, freeze them, and then place them in freezer bags for future consumption. You will be able to take out as many halves as you want at a time, thaw them, and enjoy as if they we freshly picked.

Now we have one volunteer tree behind a shed. But we've only ever had peaches every several years. I guess the climate and hail here along the front range isn't friendly enough. We're in north Lakewood. Cool that you're having a bumper yield!

Do you wash the peaches before bagging them up? I plan to do that this year because I forget how I did them several years ago. That was my first time freezing them whole and now it's slipped my mind. I figure to put them in a tub of water, veggie wash and a drop of liquid dish detergent. Rinse well & dry. Can't hurt.

I rinse them and dry them.

I say this as I listen to the outlying bands from Hurricane Hermine blow by and wonder when the power will stay off from some of the short outages we've been having this evening. Having lost entire freezer full of food with outages that lasted days, it is a consideration whether to save produce in the freezer or by canning.

Frozen will taste better and fresher but that is no consolation if you lose it all!

I haven't canned for years, though, not since our apple trees stopped bearing. One year we had a lot of stuff from the garden. I canned beans, carrots and potatoes but froze home made egg rolls and apple pies. I should start buying stuff at the farmer's markets and canning again!

We don't have power outages often. But this year I only got one large box of peaches. The first time I got three and they lasted three years. So one a year is enough and if we lose them I could deal with it. Peach pies for the neighborhood!

One thing I've asked hubby to consider with me is a generator for our fridge and the deep freezer and then also the furnace. When we first bought this place we had a gas floor furnace with no thermostat. I never worried about winter electricity outages. Now with "new & improved" furnace outages are at the back of my mind in mid winter. We've been okay so far.

Here water is too expensive for that.

I canned a bit of everything, including pressure canning veggies. I mostly froze fruit with a little sugar and lemon juice.

The great part was eating canned tomatoes in February with a couple of feet of snow on the ground outside. Pure luxury.

We used to have a big garden when we lived out in the country. I canned and froze fruit and vegetables all summer long. I agree tomatoes are the best. One year I had a bumper crop of tomatoes, was canning them in quart jars. I ran out of jars and was getting more jars from neighbors, I canned over 50 quarts of tomatoes. Thought I'd never use them all, but I did, every single jar. I always told my husband it was like opening a jar of summer every I used some of those tomatoes. We live in the city now and used to keep a year round garden here(in Texas). But I have the same problem as you, the water bills got so high. we decided it was cheaper to go to the farmers market for fresh produce.

One thing I liked when we lived up north was freezing apples. I'd buy several bushels from a local orchard, then core and peel the apples, slice them and put them in water with lemon juice. Drain and put in quart freezer bags. So many uses for apples, pies and cobblers, apple sauce or just some stewed apples with your dinner. If you have a place to get some apples, I recommend them for freezing.

For sure. Super market tomatoes in the winter are anemic.

Peaches on the shelf
Potatoes in the bin
Supper's ready, everybody come on in
Taste a little of the summer,
Taste a little of the summer,
You can taste a little of the summer
My grandma's put it all in jars.

Brings back memories of my grandmother's big pantry. I loved to look at all the jars, so many different colors of the vegetables and jams she'd canned.

Between yesterday and this evening I made about 18 quarts of pickles - cold packed Claussen style.
The small ones got left whole and the rest were made into halves, spears and rounds.

We average 8 two gallon freezer bags per tree. Use them as trade stock, and they are VERY good trade stock.

i don't think we can grow those here in the denver area. but when i was growing up in nyc my family had a fig tree in the yard that could overwinter. figs are one of my favorite fruits. when they sell them here singly i treat myself. heaven!

When I was a child, everyone had a fig bush (turkey figs are grown in Texas). My mother didn't like figs and refused to use them. A fig bush is a heavy producer and ours would be loaded with figs every year. I can remember eating my fill of ripe figs picked off the bush, then having to pick up all the fallen figs to keep the flies away. Now when I buy figs, I have to go to Whole Foods and pay a high price for them.

Cut off a small/ med. size branch at an angle, cover with rooting powder and plant in a 2-3 gallon container. The branch will grow roots. keep it watered and transplant in 4 months or so.

But I don't think our climate is fig friendly. It gets quite cold and then warms up, back and forth, which can be havoc for some plantings. I should do more research because if I could grow one in a protected spot I'd try this in a minute. Now if we had a greenhouse!

So far I've made big jars of regular pickles, pickled green beans, pickled beets and pickled snap peas. The pickled snap peas were especially good.

I made the equivalent of 18 quarts of Claussen style refrigerator pickles this year. First time I ever made pickles on my own. So far, so good. We tried a small jar of spears after four days and they were half sours, delish and crunchy.

Do you use the same kind of seasonings and brine for the peas as the pickles? Dumb question here - did you shell the peas?

water and vinegar. It's a half and half mixture of water and white vinegar, salt, some dill sprigs from the garden, sliced garlic and a bit of pickling spice I buy in bulk at the natural food store. The peas are pickled whole and not shelled. My variety is stringless, but you should check to make sure the tough string is pulled off if yours aren't. I stuff the raw veg/dill/garlic/spice into jars, bring the vinegar mixture to a boil and pour it over the veg in the jar. I cap it and let it sit on the counter to cool down and then refrigerate for about a week before eating. About the only thing I haven't tried pickling yet is cauliflower and I'm going to give that a try soon.

the recipe i used calls for just cup of vinegar to a half gallon of water. the pickles are tasting good but hubby is asking for a little more "pickly". i'm going to add a little vinegar and some more dill to each jar as we open them.

since whole peas are available year round i'm going to pick up a few pounds and pickle them. this has me intrigued. i have some relatives who i know will be tickled to try them, too. a little surprise for the holidays.

thanks a bunch, vinca!

Can't find my old recipe file where I had all my pickle recipes, but this one is a real winner. You use cinnamon candy red hots when making the pickles. I am sure you can find the recipe on the internet. It's worth the effort.