By Pamela Buselich
When we bought our vineyard in 1973, there was a small orchard of mostly peach trees that were grown commercially. I enjoyed harvesting in early December and the climb up and down ladders didn’t seem like hard work.
We started picking before the sun rose, but first I reached out and found a large, juicy peach that was too ripe to be packed for the markets in West Perth. I remember the intense flavour and freshness of a tree ripened peach, and sitting on the top of the ladder in the pre-dawn light, savouring every mouthful.
We packed the peaches in wooden trays, wrapping each peach in tissue paper. The reward for this hard work before the long grape season began was a week’s holiday in Dunsborough in a beach front house at Greenacres. When we packed the Holden station wagon, we also packed a tray of peaches to enjoy at the beach.
I also preserved dozens of bottles of peaches using the Vacola system. These delicious peaches took us through winter, when no stone fruit was available in the shops. We ate seasonal produce and made sure nothing was wasted. What we didn’t sell, eat or preserve, went to the chooks!