Blog - Ramblings from a Desert Garden

I love peaches. Every year, I look forward to May when the peaches on my tree are ripe and ready. While May might seem a little early for peaches, in the low desert garden, this is when they are ready for being harvested.

There are several things that I like to make with my peaches. Of course, peach jam, peach cobbler, and pie make the list, but also something a bit unusual.

A few years ago, I was inspired to make peach vinegar after I read the book, “The Backyard Homestead”. So, you may be wondering why I would want to make homemade fruit vinegar? Fruit vinegars are one of my favorite ingredients in homemade salad dressing.

It is very easy to make fruit vinegar – especially when compared to making jam out of peaches.

You will need the following:

Peaches

White wine vinegar

Glass jar with lid

Strainer

Paper towels

First, remove the skins from the peaches. If the peaches are very ripe, you can often peel them off in large sheets. Or, use a paring knife to peel them as you would an apple.

Roughly chop the peaches into 1-inch sections. Plan on using 2 – 3 peaches per pint-sized jar.

Add the chopped peaches and pour white wine vinegar over them until it reaches the top of your jar.

Place the peach/vinegar mixture in a dark place for 4 weeks – I use my pantry. At least once a week, shake the jar to help mix the contents.

After a month has passed, pour out the mixture over a strainer to remove the peaches. You can see that the white wine vinegar has taken on the beautiful color and flavor of the peaches.

Strain the peach vinegar needs through a coffee filter (or paper towel) to remove the remaining peach solids.

*I’ve found that paper towels work better than coffee filters.

After straining the peach vinegar – pour into clean jars with lids. They can be stored in your pantry for 3 months.

Peach vinegar tastes wonderful when used on fruit salad and it makes a great pork glaze. It also makes a delicious vinaigrette and marinades. Some people even drizzle it over peach ice cream.

Don’t have a peach tree? No problem. You can use peaches from the grocery store or your farmers market. Just make sure they are ripe.

My favorite use for peach vinegar is for my grandmother’s famous salad dressing. This recipe has been in our family for years and I am going to break all the rules and risk being expelled from my family by sharing it with you. It’s easy to make and creates a sweet dressing that is popular with kids and adults alike.

Click the link below for the recipe.

GRANDMA SMITH’S HOMEMADE SALAD DRESSING

I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does!

Do you have a citrus tree in your garden? I do.

I have two trees – a Meyer lemon and a brand new ‘Trovita’ orange tree.

As a child in California, we always had citrus trees in our backyard. I would pick lemons from my favorite tree just off the back patio. Later, we moved to a larger ranch-style home that had several citrus trees. I honestly never paid much attention to them, because as a teenager I had more important things to think about – like boys and how to get perfect-perm for my hair (it was the 80’s).

Now as an adult (with permed hair thankfully in my past), I do pay attention to my citrus trees. Consequently, I look forward to the fragrant blossoms that cover citrus trees in mid-winter. As the blooms fade, tiny green fruit is left behind, which are baby citrus fruit. However, as spring progresses, some of the small, green fruit drop to the ground. Not surprisingly, this concerns gardeners who don’t understand why.

Well, let me put all your worries to rest. This is a normal occurrence. Citrus trees produce more blossoms than it can grow into mature fruit. They do this in order to attract the most pollinators and after the flower petals drop, little green fruit is left behind, which ideally grow into large delicious fruit ready to harvest in winter. However, the tree cannot support that much fruit, so the tree figures out how much fruit it can grow to maturity and then drop the rest.

For those of you who have young citrus trees, I want to warn you that most of the little green fruit will drop. Citrus trees need a large root system and a lot of leaves to support a good amount of fruit and that only comes with age. So, if you see tiny, green citrus on the ground every spring – don’t panic. It is all part of the normal cycle of growing citrus.

DIY Peach Vinegar

You will need the following:

Citrus Trees Dropping Tiny, Green Fruit

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