It's Raining Peaches!

 I may be the only person eagerly following the growth, drama and successes of my peach tree... and that's ok too.

Remember, this tree is just 6 years old. And a year ago, with little fruit not eaten by squirrels, but plenty of leaves to boast about, it suffered with snow in summer and a catastrophic branch amputation. 

Winter was tough and spring brought more heavy snow as well as one of the wettest seasons I've ever experienced here. 

Between blizzards (including "snowmageddon") our stubborn peach tree blossomed and we watched bee's eagerly pollinating while crossing our fingers that the next storm wouldn't destroy the flowers before they had a chance to become little fruit embryos.

TWO hail storms in one week!

Success... by early summer we were seeing almond-sized green peach babies. They grew about as fast as a human baby and I became convinced that it would take nine months to produce an edible peach. To put it in perspective, we are awaiting the birth of next fur baby and call me crazy, but the fact that golden retriever puppies take only about 62 days to gestate, while our peaches were closer to 6 months is just a tad weird, right?!

By early September our half-sized peaches were still rock hard but beginning to blush. At this time we realized we had WAY more peaches than we'd anticipated. We had also discovered that 2 things are crucial when it comes to dissuading your squirrels from biting into and then discarding, green peaches. 

1. Not one, but two young cats in the yard. Both enthusiastic about chasing squirrels away and one of which appears to be part monkey!

2. Bird feeders that a continually loaded with hulled sunflower seeds - Squirrel-proof bird feeders but with birds messy enough to chuck half of their seeds onto the ground so our squirrels were never hungry and hardly motivated to try their hand at green peaches this year. 

Despite letting our greed run the show and ultimately allow too many peaches which overwhelmed another branch to the point of destruction, we have a lot to be grateful for. 

It is with great pleasure and a satiated belly, that I show you "harvest" pics now. 

And perhaps what you've really been waiting for... Did we waste any? Have TOO many to handle? 

Heck no! The neighbors got peaches, my dentist office, builder, friends, airbnb guests and even the mail carrier got fresh peaches. Uh-huh... they do taste better than Western Slope peaches! Juicy, concentrated peachy flavor that runs down ones face and hands and sprays all over the show when you bite into the fruit. It doesn't get any better than that. 

As for "dealing with" peaches that were harvested early from the downed branch, harvested daily after that to lighten the load on remaining branches and then harvested at the peak of ripeness - we worked hard  and wasted little. Yes it was a full time job for a few days.

Frozen Peaches

Bottled Peaches

Spicy Peach Salsa

Cardamom Peach Compote (for French toast, waffles, pancakes, ice cream and more!)

Peachy Smoothies

Fish Tacos with Peach Salsa

And today the hens arrived. No surprise, but they also love a little peach in their diet. Will I get peach flavored eggs? Time will tell. 

Last word: It does appear that if you hug peaches to your body during the harvest, the peach fuzz will get to you, even through your t-shirt. After a couple of days I began to get a light pink rash where the little hairs had irritated my skin on my belly and forearms. My tongue was also feeling a bit raw. Nothing that can't be fixed by using a basket and by peeling one's fruit before eating... but it's fair to say that learning to be a hobby farmer has been trial and error.

285 1/4 Martin Drive - The Coop

We have 2 young cats and (fingers crossed) a puppy on the way in 2021.

So who in their right mind adds to the chaos that is looming?  I do. The kitties are still young and not yet curmudgeonly... It's the perfect time to keep introducing them to new things and add to the family! Besides, winter around here is a bit on the quiet side for me. Business is slower the days are darker and I have some more time to devote to socializing, training and simply playing with my fur-babies.

When the opportunity arose to rehome 4 ladies, I jumped at it. Visions of a cute coop, fresh eggs and that delightful clucking sound made me smile. 

First up, Hazel, Jade, Buttercup and Meatball (we'll give her a nickname to get around my food-pet boundary issues) needed a new house. Their current coop is great but it would be an ordeal to break it down onsite, transport and reassemble it here, while keeping the girls in some sort of transit container that long. I did some research on size and climate requirements and went with a kit that is put together in Utah and shipped with instructions that any 6 year old with a drill could follow.

The kit comes with an tool apron! Sweet!

Being the person I am, I absolutely needed to match the coop to the house and therefore set about painting all the parts with leftover house paint. I had help, obviously. Wrigley was there every step of the way to make sure no tacky paint surface was left to dry without a little cat fur imbedded... to remind the chickens who was here first.

Step two involved reworking the raised garden bed that occupied the proposed site of the chicken coop. To be fair, given what I paid and how much work I put into growing herbs and a few veggies, I was ready to call time of death on that project. Seriously, those bush beans and zucchini's were like $50/lb and for that price, I want a 4* chef plating them for me then cleaning up the kitchen when he's done!

I didn't kill the garden per se. I just replanted what was left at the end of this growing season, into a couple of containers. The tomato lives on... until it stops producing. The herbs will be coddled all the way to Thanksgiving, and will find themselves on the inside of a 20lb turkey then.

I then took 3 layers of raised bed and turned it into one platform. With a few pavers set inside to rest the frame of the coop on, I'd say that is the short version of the story. You're welcome.

Then it was time to assemble. We picked an overly hot day and got to work in the back yard. I know what you want to ask... Did I put down a painting sheet on the lawn to stop the pieces getting wet or dirty? No, silly. I realize the coop will be wet and dirty before long. And poopy too! The purpose of the plastic sheet was to catch the screws that I drop. I'm just a bit of a clutz, that's all.

And wah-lah! 

The ladies arrive around Sept 18th to their new address: 285 1/4 Martin Drive, Boulder. Stay tuned for little chicken portraits and omelet pictures!