Georgia Peaches from Barney, GA

Good evening and come on in out of the hot weather. In the shade it is about 100 and higher than that out in the sun. Of course if you don't have enough sense to stay in the shade you'll just have to be hot. I also suspect you don't have sense enough to stay out of the rain either. Bless your heart. So just come in and have a cold coke.

We went down to Barney, GA, to get some peaches today for the season is about gone down here in South GA. The owner said they would have some until about the first week in August and then they would shut down for this year and that is bad news. We absolutely eat peaches 3 times a day when they are in season. Today I got a peck and some of them are huge.

The Elberta, big, yellow peaches are the last ones to get ripe and they are usually the largest ones of the season. They are also really sweet and great for peach bread and cobblers or just eat by themselves. It was a little disapointing to not find any cantaloupe for they are gone but was able to get a watermelon. I can still get peaches, cantaloupe and watermelon at the grocery store and they buy locally as long as it is available.

I kinda thought about buying a couple of bushels of field peas but changed my mind. When I thought about the sore fingers from shelling, standing over a hot stove to blanch them, cooling them, packing them in bags, and then trying to find room in the deep freeze, I came to the conclusion that buying them from Farmer Brown was a much better idea. They buy locally, shell, blanch and put them in big bags and freeze them and just have them waiting there for me to come and buy. No sore fingers, aching back or hard work and they are just like I would have done them myself and I don't even have to break a sweat.

We discovered Farmer Brown's farmer's market many years ago and this is where we buy most of our produce. They have a bushel's worth of peas, butter beans, and most any other vegetable you want in freezers for you to come and buy. It is ready to cook and tastes good.

We really enjoy their frozen corn for they have cut it off, creamed it a little and packaged it in little tubes. As far as I am concerned, this is wonderful. If you cut it off yourself, the whole kitchen has to be hosed down for you will have corn EVERYWHERE. Not only the kitchen is a mess but you will have it in your hair, on your eye glasses, and your clothes. It is absolutely the messiest vegetable I know to prepare for freezer and I have been there and done that enough times to fulfill my dues as a good, Southern mama.

Cindy taught me a new way to do corn this summer and I use it most of the time. You leave the husks and silks on the ears and microwave it for about 3 minutes per ear. The husks and silks peel right off when you get ready to eat it and now I freeze it in the husks. A whole lot easier and I take the ears which may be left and cut the kernels off for nibblet corn. It is great in cornbread and salads. Usually I don't have any left unless I plan ahead and cook more than we will eat or hide it from Roy. That man of mine can flat eat some corn on the cob!

We found some fresh, small pods of okra in Hahira this morning. The farmer had picked it this morning and I plan to fry some tomorrow for we have not had any this summer. By the way, you pronounce Hahira like "hay-hi-rah." We hear it pronounced every which-a-way but correctly. This is the little town where Bubba lives or rather where a bunch of "bubbas" live. It is small town just north of Valdosta and just south of Adel (A-del not Ah-del). Now don't be ashamed for we had to learn how to say them when we first moved over here, bless our hearts.

Well, it has been good talking to ya'll today but I've got to go peel our peaches and make a peach cobbler. They are really ripe and if I don't get them today, we will lose some and that would be a crying shame since they are almost gone for this year.

Ya'll come back to see us and be careful going home.

Nuff said,

The Georgia Peach