Peach Blackberry Crisp...because it's amazing!

Peach-Blackberry Crisp (stolen from webmd for peach raspberry crisp)

A fruit crisp offers the luscious flavor of a fresh fruit pie without the fuss and calories of a crust. Celebrate the arrival of summer peaches with this rich-tasting crisp. The nut-studded topping works great with other fruit combinations too.

Ingredients

·      2 pounds peaches, peeled (if desired, see Tip), pitted and sliced (5 cups), or frozen slices

·      1 pint blackberries, fresh or frozen

·      2 tablespoons granulated sugar

·      1 tablespoon lemon juice

·      2/3 cup whole-wheat flour

·      1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, (not instant)

·      1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

·      1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·      Pinch of salt

·      1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces

·      1 tablespoon canola oil

·      3 tablespoons frozen orange juice concentrate

·      1 tablespoon chopped almonds, or walnuts

Instructions

Step 1

Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat an 8-inch-square baking dish (or similar 1 1/2- to 2-quart dish) with cooking spray.

Step 2

To prepare filling, combine peaches, raspberries, granulated sugar and lemon juice in a large bowl; toss to coat. Place the filling in the prepared baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes.

Step 3

Meanwhile, make topping. Mix flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt in a medium bowl with a fork. Add butter and blend with a pastry blender or your fingertips. Add oil and stir to coat. Add orange juice concentrate and blend with your fingertips until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Step 4

After 20 minutes, stir the fruit filling and sprinkle the topping evenly over it. Sprinkle with almonds (or walnuts). Bake, uncovered, until the fruit is bubbly and tender and the topping is lightly browned, 20 to 25 minutes more. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Tips

Tip: Dip peaches in boiling water for 30 or 40 seconds to loosen their skins. Let cool slightly, then slip off skins with a paring knife. Or just let them ripen to perfection and peel the skins off!

Tunnel Strawberries and blackberry pruning

After the rain...everything is looking good.

Update and the weather.....

We're still picking early peaches, but luckily the first White Nectarines are now in!
Yes, we even have the last picking of Apricots, cute bitesize wonders.
There are a few raspberries and lots of Blackberries,too, in spite of the tremendous heat.

This Blackberry crop is so fun to watch growing!
The berries could use a gentle drink, they are getting huge!

Gary planted buckwheat for the cover crop and so the bees would be happy.

They really are busy here!
Just a "heads up" these pumpkins are growing well this year.

Get ready for more early fruit!

These blackberries are supposed to be ready in August- but they're getting color now.
Maybe they'll be ready for July 4th?!
Guess we better get the bird netting on them!
Going to pick Sweet Cherries tomorrow, these are the yellow and red ones, delicious!

Apple Time

This is the week the boys are doing all the end of season chores. They're tying up the new blackberry canes, amazing how much they grew this year! Boys and Blackberries...
Gary planted strawberries on black plastic in the tunnels. These will be our early, protected berries for next year. Gotta always try new ways to make this work.
The HoneyCrisp apples are everybody's favorite. We have a nice supply as well as 6 other varieties right now.

Bird Netting

The Bird Netting arrived via the Fed Ex truck, which Hale likes because she makes him stop at the entrance so she can get a ride...good thing the driver is really nice! We're covering the Blackberries which are getting ripe quickly. As soon as we finished the birds were very noisy and angry that we eliminated their feast. This is the view from the back of the barn today, in the rain.

Blackberries get their turn to bloom.

They sure look pretty when they bloom. I can't believe how well everythings grown.

We picked 3 quarts of strawberries for Memorial Day so it'll be sometime this week that they will all start to color up. I'm predicting we'll have some for sale this coming weekend and maybe Pick your own starting June 1...they sure taste good after waiting so long.

Wild Wind and Apricots

Well, I'm almost done the berry pruning. Canes on the left are done, canes on the right are the "before" idea. The black raspberries were prickly, but one more day ought to finish them.

Gary told me the apricots are blooming and although it's really windy, the temperature isn't too cold. This might be a good year for the apricots! We have 3 varieties and only one is especially early. The rest start when peaches are starting- late July.