Peachy keen

When I first started actually working in my yard about 5-6 years ago, one of the first things I did was plant a peach tree. Actually, the label said it was a nectarine tree, but fuzzy fruit don't lie. Surprisingly, the scrawny tree bore three small but tasty peaches a few months after I planted it. And the following year it produced a bounty of 20+ tiny but sweet peaches. But I made the mistake of taking the entire crop to a barbecue, and so I only got to eat one myself. But, I figured, there's always next year.

So of course the next year, the tree didn't even fruit. And I only got a couple of scrawny ones the next year that didn't have enough meat to eat. But last year, my tree was back in business. Blooms aplenty. It looked to be a banner year.

And then came the hail. So much for the blooms. The promising crop was reduced to three very good but very lonely peaches.

Which brings us to this year. We had one of the driest Februaries on record in Austin history. On the other hand, the other months have been surprisingly wet. I've barely had to water my new grass sod. I've never seen my lawn this deep green. And my peach tree is laden with fruit:

Peaches galore!
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Peaches galore!
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This evening, I picked 20 peaches off the tree! And there's still plenty more left on the tree; I only picked the ones that had some red already. I probably plucked some a little early, but I didn't want to take any chances:

The fruits of my labor
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There are a few mutants, like this unbalanced buttcrack one:

Mutant #1
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Or these Siamese twins:

Joined at birth
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But most were normal like this:

Normal!
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Some will require carving around holes where something got in already, but many are surprisingly intact. I'll let them ripen in the kitchen a couple days before I dig in. And I may have only picked half the crop as it is. Can't wait to try them this weekend!