Peach Syrup

Last year my fruit trees did not bear one piece of fruit.  They didn't even bloom.  I don't know the reason for that, but if something like that happens to commercial growers, what a catastrophe that would be!

So, they must have saved up all their energy for this year because my three peach trees are loaded.  One of my three plum trees is also loaded.  I mean, branches drooping and one even breaking, loaded.  Even my sad little apple trees, that have never produced anything except maybe one hard little crabapple looking apple, actually have some little apples on them.

Anyway, I've been picking the peaches and they are really delicious.  So far, I've frozen about three quarts of peaches.  I know that doesn't sound like much, but my trees are still fairly small; they aren't all ripe yet; and, lots of the fruit fell off the tree before ripening, has been pecked by birds or ruined by ants.

I saw a pin on Pinterest in which the pinner made peach syrup from her scraps after canning her peaches.  It was pretty simple, so I thought I'd give it a try.

All you have to do is put all your scraps - pits, peelings, etc. in a pot and put enough water in the pot so that you can see the water, but it doesn't cover your scraps.

Bring to a boil, then turn it down and let it simmer for about 45 minutes.  Strain the juice through cheesecloth into a large measuring cup.  Put the juice into a saucepan and add twice the amount of sugar as you have juice.  E.g. I ended up with two cups of juice, so I added four cups of sugar.  Simmer and stir until all sugar is completely dissolved.  

The syrup can be canned with whatever method you want.  I just poured mine in a clean jar and will keep it in the refrigerator.  It is really quite delicious.  I plan to use it in drinks like peach tea and peach lemonade.