Sticky

A few years ago, five, I think, I planted a peach tree in the front yard. It was a weedy little thing at the time, barely two feet tall. 

The next spring it bloomed and we got a few tiny peaches that never ripened. 

Ever since then it's been touch and go, the bloom getting hit by frost or the peaches being carried off by squirrels long before they were edible. 

This year is different. The bloom didn't seem that heavy, but there are so many peaches the tree can't hold itself up properly - one of my neighbors volunteered her laundry poles keep the branches from snapping. (One of her laundry poles snapped instead.)

And while there have been peaches scattered up and down the block, there are too many for the squirrels to handle on their own. I've got multiple bowls in the kitchen, waiting to be turned into jam, and on Sunday I did the first batch of five half pint jars. 

That was plain peach. Next up is peach vanilla, and after that peach jalapeno. I'll do another batch of plain if the squirrels leave any by that point.

A few days later, and I'm still waiting for it to totally set up. I thought I messed up, but after doing some reading, it seems that peach jam takes its sweet time to find its set point. 

I care, but I don't. It tasted so good in the cooking process that I'll just pour it over ice cream and call that a victory over the squirrels.