My friend let my kids and I come pick peaches from her yard again this year. So many peaches. We sorted and washed, and laid them out to dry on the counter and covered them with mesh to keep the bugs off.

I peeled the peaches with a peeler (blanching is frustrating and hot), and sliced them off the stone by cutting wedges and popping them off as I cut. The sliced peaches went into freezer bags for future use. I boiled the skins and obtained a beautifully colored liquid.

We shared some peaches with the chickens, who loved them so much that I needed to put out one for each chicken so there weren’t squabbles.