Peach season in Arkansas is absolutely one of my most favorite times of the year. Yes, I love strawberries. But we can get some decent organic ones, albeit NOT the best, strawberries year round. Really nice blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are generally always available, But peaches? Not so much. Which makes me anticipate their goodness even more.
This year’s April freeze just about devastated the peach crop in much of Arkansas unfortunately, but Mark Morgan (@treeripepeach) of Peach Pickin’ Paradise in Clarksville, was upbeat as I visited with him recently when I stopped by to pick up a half bushel of any that were available. After two banner seasons, I know it must be difficult to suffer such a loss, but Mark says that’s just part of being a farmer.
Aren;t we thankful for our farmers?
“Did you know that one farmer in the United States feeds 155 people? Isn’t that amazing? When you think about the amount of work that goes into producing the food we eat everyday…it all starts with that tiny seed a farmer planted in the soil and tended during the growing season before harvesting it and sending it on to the packing industry which then sends it on to the grocery store or restaurant where it ends up on our plates!” (https://www.feed155.com/)
This easy, easy salad is just one of those impromptu things that came about just because…well, I had a bunch of tomatoes and several peaches that needed to be eaten. I had often made a tomato and watermelon salad and just figured tomatoes would work well with peaches as well. And they certainly did!
The amounts will vary according to what you ave on hand or on how much you need. It’s really flexible which makes it super nice, right?
Our little garden has produced bushels of tomatoes this year which has meant we’ve enjoyed tomatoes just about every day for every meal. And, no, I’m not tired of them.The colorful variety we have available really makes this a pretty salad so I suggest you try to duplicate that as well. If those aren’t available, it will certainly work with tasty red ones just fine.
We have about 14 weeks before the first frost is predicted for my planting zone, and I’m already priming for our fall garden. It’s always tough to pull up plants from the spring/summer garden in order to make room for the new planting, but I just keep in mind all the goodness that is to come.
How about you? Do you plant a fall garden? I’d love to know what you plant in yours.
Ingredients
- Fresh tomatoes
- Fresh peaches
- Kosher salt
- Cracked pepper
- Fresh basil (preferably Genovese)
- Balsamic vinegar (reduced if desired)
- Cilegine or crumbled feta, if desired
Instructions
- Core and quarter (or smaller) tomatoes; allow to drain for a couple of hours, if desired.
- Slice peaches, removing seed. Add to tomatoes.
- Salt and pepper to taste and stir well. Refrigerate until shortly before serving.
- Chop or tear basil and stir into tomatoes and peaches.
