Peaches and Cream

Grandpa had a peach tree.  It was, and still is a rarity in Vancouver.  While Canadian peaches grow in abundance in both the hot, dry Okanagan region of British Columbia, and in the hot, humid Niagara region of Ontario, it is unusual to have a peach tree in Vancouver.

My Grandparents had a large double lot with a white picket fence all around.  An enormous cherry tree presided over the backyard gardens...three different gardens.  One, closest to the kitchen door, produced corn, beans, peas, potatoes, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and chives.  Another, produced strawberries, raspberries, sweetpeas, and gladiolus.  The peach tree grew in the rose garden.  It was always called, "Grandpa's tree", and he was proud of the bounty it produced.

 
Grandma's father was the Foreman on the rail line through Northern Ontario gold country, and her mother ran an ever moving boarding house for railway construction workers.  Grandma learned to cook and bake for crews of hungry men. When I was growing up, her Westcoast kitchen was Central Command for whatever was in season.

So, when the peaches on Grandpa's tree ripened, their house was filled with the sweet fragrance of peach pie, peach cobbler, and canned peaches.  The kernel found in the peach pit, would be added to the canned peaches, giving the syrup an almond flavour.  The Mason jars of canned peaches would be left standing on the kitchen table, until after their lids made the popping sound, signalling they'd been sealed.  The jars would then be brought down creaky cellar stairs to the pantry.  On dark Winter nights, Grandma would open a jar of Summer, and together they'd savour a simple dessert of peaches and thick cream.

After Grandpa died, the double lot was subdivided and sold.  The rose garden and peach tree were bulldozed to make way for someone's house.



Photographs Copyright of:  Ruth Adams, Widow's Endorphins Photographic Images Incorporated.