It showed up in the afternoon — an email from Dawn saying, “I just ate a peach!”
Peaches are here! Dawn went to the farmers’ market this morning, buying 2 quarts of strawberries, 3 pints of blueberries, 1 quart of raspberries, and a half-dozen peaches!
My parents grew peaches in a small orchard on their property, down in southern Illinois. That was about 25 years ago, but I still clearly remember the house smelling like peaches from the dozens of bushels sitting inside, waiting to be taken to a roadside corner to sell. I was spoiled by those fresh peaches, eating them literally moments after they had been picked, so I always look forward to the arrival of peach season! My mom also made peach jelly, which I never appreciated nearly enough at the time.
Two of the peaches are already gone, and so are 1½ pints of blueberries. Dawn won’t eat blueberries (she says that she likes them, but that they don’t like her). However, I love them, and it turns out our son Lando loves them, too!
The strawberry season is starting to wind down, and I must admit that I’m getting a bit burned out on strawberries. At the same time, I know that it will be nearly a year before we get any more, so I can’t stop buying them. We’ve been freezing quite a few, primarily to use in smoothies. I’m not a big smoothie fan, but Dawn and Lando both really like their banana/strawberry smoothies in the morning! Of course, we’re not likely to find local bananas, but at least we can use local strawberries!
Meal Recaps
Breakfast was scrambled eggs and sausage, all local.
Lunch was broccoli, a tomato, bread, and honey, all local except for the bread, which was locally made (Bluestem Bake Shop in Elkhart).
Dinner was mac & cheese (non-local macaroni, but the cheese was from Ropp Jersey Cheese in Normal) and salad (local, except for the dressing), with blueberries for dessert.
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