Peach Season at Fartwood Manor has been over for about two weeks now. All that's left are a few half-eaten, sun-dried fruits in the high branches. I haven't had to shovel the fallen fruit from the path for a while. Yay! I guess that means the Evil Squirrel will now be shifting his attention and appetite to the avocados.
Sad to say, but Mr. Peach Tree might be on the way out. It is an old tree, and every year we have to prune more and more branches. Two things might hasten its demise: Dale wants to feature a spooky tree in this year's yard haunt (he can use the branches from the tree) and the fact that the falling fruit really messes up the deck. Since the deck is scheduled to be "upgraded" soon (read: radio shack, man-hut, whatever), eliminating the fruit would be a good idea. I'm still bummed about the idea of taking it out, but I think its usefulness is over. The fact that the fruit is so fragile makes it hard to do anything with it. The fruit browns almost immediately after cutting, so I have to give it a dose of some crushed up vitamin C tablets if I want to use it in a recipe.
This year I made muffins, gelato and this wonderful shortcake.
After I decided on the title of this post, I figured I ought to include a link to its inspiration, Frank Zappa. I had been, at one time, a rather devout Zappa aficionado, and "Peaches En Regalia" was one of my favorite songs. Before I moved here, it was Zappa's music that helped to form my ideas of what Southern California was all about. Between listening to Zappa and reading Jack Smith's column reprinted in the "Green Sheet" of the old Milwaukee Journal I learned all about life in LA-LA Land.
Let's fire up the "way back machine", shall we?? .....when I saw Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in 1972 (or thereabouts).....the opening act was Fleetwood Mac. WOW.
I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did. The quality is a little spotty, but it definitely shows the master in control. I am embarrassed to say (well maybe not, actually, since vinyl seems to be a badge of honor these days) that my Zappa collection is all vinyl. (I am hoping this is what will fund my retirement--yaright.) I'm thinking I need to take a little trip down the iTunes memory lane. Hmmm...I DO have "Peaches" by The Stranglers digital though.
4 comments:
I loved the Green Sheet! How about the Steve Miller Band's "The Joker". Then you can sing "really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree..." (My daddy used to sing that to my mommy, but she didn't appreciate it very much.)
The Green Sheet was cool. My mom saved me the final issue. Was "Dear Mrs. Griggs" still in there when you were reading it? She might have croaked in the 70's. She was the Milw answer to Dear Abby. That was always a hoot to read.
Did your dad sing about the pompatus of love too?
I love fresh peaches...can't believe you're really gonna get rid of the tree!
That dessert you had a pic of looked YUMMY!! :)
Miss HP--I feel really bad about wanting to get rid of the tree. But it is a HUGE mess. They are white peaches, which have a shelf life of something like 17 seconds. I can't even pick them to share with others...they turn brown immediately. I think it is on its last legs anyway...I don't think they last forever. If we use it in the yard haunt...it will "live on" in a more useful way.
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