Perhaps one more week on the tree. My 2 dehydrators are ready and rare'n to go. Dried apricots have even a higher concentration of beta carotene than the raw and the raw apricot is like a health miracle. A bumper crop on this tree that is in my daughter's yard.
I will not list all the health benefits (trust me, there are many) but 2 biggies that most people have interest in...... delays cancer and is a powerful "fat" fighter.
I planted 5 more fruit trees this spring, of which, 2 are apricot. Hey bloggie friends....... plant some fruit trees. Free Health Care.
Are you a tree planter?
Many years ago in Victorville, we had two amazing apricot trees. Watered early in the morning and watched them grow. Such a bumper crop.
ReplyDeleteI would love a good apricot about now. The problem with dried apricots from a market is the sulfur product used.
Susan
DeleteOh really, sulfur? I just wash them, remove the pit and turn the dehydrator on low. What part of the country is Victorville?
No Manzanita, but would like to be. One day perhaps - when I get my finger out...
ReplyDeleteThe birds have planted quite a few things for me; blackberries, strawberries and an oak tree - about four years old maybe. (Do worry that it might be too near the house...)
Love love apricots!
Anna :o]
Anna Haha
DeleteYou have quite the helpers. Oak trees are so beautiful and squirrels love them. I too, hope it's not too close to your house. The kind of oak trees we had in Minnesota do not seem to do well in Montana. I don't know why. It's colder than a witches-you-know in both states. They are slow growers.
Never even tried it
ReplyDeleteHere at my pit
Fruit and me don't mix
With my bodies nervey tricks
Sounds like they work though
As you are always in the know
Pat
DeleteThe Hunzakut way of life I study
Never accused of being a fuddy duddy
Apricots were their main meal
For food and wood it was a steal
In US the pits you could always buy
Cured some cancers that's no lie
Big pharma heard, off the shelves they did go
Now import or in your yard you grow
Hallo there!! Lovely to see you over at my place today. Gosh, what a bountiful supply of apricots! Don't they look wonderful. I do eat a lot of fruit, but strangely enough , not apricots. We don't seem to see them very much over here, only the dried ones, which I don't really fancy. Hope you are well over there.
ReplyDeleteDiane
DeleteSo good to hear from you again. I wish you the very best and hope you feel up to blogging again. The summer has passed so quickly again.
Your friend, Manzanita
Those look delicious! I am a tree planter. I think I'm going to plant a Georgia peach tree!
ReplyDeleteSherry
Deleteyummm. I love the juicy sweet peaches. I had one here that produced the most exquisite peaches ..... perfect peaches.... you had to stand over the sink when you ate one. But it was short lived too. I planted a couple more this past year. It might be just too cold here for them, although these are for cold weather.
Lots of luck with your Georgia peach.
My yard makes for 'wet feet' for most areas so I have blueberry bushes instead of fruit trees. I did however plant a fig tree at the urging of a friend about 5 years ago and up until now it only produced about a handful of rather dreary fruit every year. This year, with our very uncharacteristically dry and sunny season, my fig tree is teeming with fruit and I get about a half dozen ripening every day! You can bet that I am feverishly figuring out what to do with this beautiful fruit! I wish I could trade you some figs for some apricots! Yours look positively plump and delicious!
ReplyDeleteJasmine
DeleteOh yes, you get so much rain. But figs are wonderful. I've always wished we could grow them here. And blueberries.... so good for the eyes. Maybe I could see better if I grew blueberries. Do you have a dehydrator? I dry all fruits and veggies. I love the dried figs in the winter. You can reconstruct them in water and they are so delicious. In history, who was the famous gal who said "I don't give a fig." I can't remember. Ha
The inner kernel of the pit is one of the only sources of B17 that still exists. That is the cancer fighting agent. There is a website called apricotpower.com that details how important B17 is in fighting cancer and where you can get it. My mom and I purchased A BUNCH of the apricot kernels from the website and take about 3 a day as a preventive so that we get our B17. Interesting post, Manzanita!
ReplyDeleteWe are planning on buying an avocado tree and planting it in the early spring. We love avocados and it is a "healthy fat." Plus, we make so much guacamole here that it will be a huge savings:)
I agree... plant fruit trees for your health!!!
Robin
DeleteI too love avocados and they grow so fast in FL. They are so expensive by the time they get shipped up here, you are lucky you can grow them.
Years ago we could buy the apricot kernels in health food stores and then the FDA got the news that it was a great aid to cancer and they disappeared from the shelves. Now, Amazon has them. My brother in Az drives over to Mexico and buys the stuff we can no longer get here because Big Pharma can't make a buck off of them.
I'm always happy when I hear of my friends, like you and your mom, taking the natural foods as cures and preventatives. The kernels taste rather bitter but I like that taste.
Never had an apricot. I think they're like peaches...? And I don't like peaches. Love me some oranges, apples, and bananas though.
ReplyDeleteAl
DeleteI find that strange that you've never tasted an apricot, but you got 3 good fruit going for you. Here's a peach story. About 6 years ago, A state legis. friend of mine wanted me as a bauble on his arm at a fancy state party. I could get all gussied up and hob knob with the state government crooks. It turned out to be a fun time and he picked me up the next morning to go to breakfast before he left for home back up by the Canadian border. (He stayed in a hotel, stop what you're thinking!) My peaches had just been picked and he wanted some for the trip home. I told him he should not eat them in the car because they were too juicy but he took a bunch of paper towels and took a bite of peach in the car. I had warned him.... juice all over his tie and shirt. He said he had eaten all of them by the time he got home and was a peachy mess. But sadly, he got cancer a couple years later and died. (he was much younger than I was) and I remembered how much he seemed to need that fruit and how fast he devoured it. I guess we all should eat more fruit. End of story.
I want some!!
ReplyDeleteFishducky
DeleteHappy to hear you like apricots.
Heh, free healthcare indeed :)
ReplyDeleteWe don't have the land to plant trees, but it's not something I'd be against.
Dried apricots sounds pretty yummy.
Mark
DeleteAll you pay for is the shovel to dig the hole or borrow one from your generous neighbor. Haha
But living in Florida, you have access to a lot of fresh fruit right off the trees. We lived in a condo on the beach when we lived in FL but friends inland always gave us the offer to come and pick all we want..... and I did. Ha
We planted a lime tree so the OH could have fresh lime in his vodka and soda - does that count?
ReplyDeleteLizy
DeleteI don't know but it makes me laugh. It sure doesn't harm the Russians. Ha
We have few fruit trees in our neighbourhood as there are lots of fruit bats and they eat everything fruity just before they are ripe, most trees are netted but this doesn't work very well. For some reason the bats are protected.
ReplyDeleteMerle........
Merle
DeleteI guess each locations has it's predators who we have to vie with for our food. To tell the truth, I've never heard of fruit bats. We have almost every thing else. The worms and bugs and fight off the birds but bats. uugghh. Too bad.
True this! Plant fruit trees and have a healthy life. Great post and photo!
ReplyDeleteNas
Nas
DeleteThanks for the nice comment. Hope your days include lots of healthy fruit.
They are good along with healthy
ReplyDeleteHoly Ghost
DeleteYum, yes. I was up on the ladder picking yesterday. Why is the best fruit always the highest????
Because it gets the most sunshine way up there.
DeleteLovely post, Manzanita. I love to plant trees and those apricots look great! Delicious.
ReplyDeleteJulia
DeleteI knew you would appreciate trees too. I can tell by your poetry. That is one reason I could move from the ranch. It was dry and barren in the mountains and it feels so good in town to be able to dig in the black soil with the earthworms.
Enjoy the fruits of the summer.
Much love from Manzanita
Apricots! Yummy. I planted 4 apple trees this spring. The deer have noticed and have stripped one down to the bone. Maybe it will survive. We have put fencing around them, but still....
ReplyDeleteRosemany
DeleteI've had to put fencing around everything that grows in my yard. I'd love a tall fence around all the property but too much land and it would cost a fortune and the fence would be more valuable than this old house. I just use tall chicken wire and some stakes. Looks terrible but what else can we do??
Hope your apple trees take hold and the deer return to where ever they came from.
I love apricots! I may have to try and dry some myself.
ReplyDeleteChuck
DeleteI'm so happy we can grow apricots here because I really do think they are the most healthful of all fruit. Do you recall the A-Z I did on the Hunzas a couple years ago? Prob not, but they were so isolated in the Himalayas and lived to be over 100 on their main food, apricots and goats.
Ooooh, they're gorgeous, Manzi. We might have a mango grove in several years if all the mango seeds that the Mama is planting sprout and grow. There was a great sale on mangos last weeks: 2 for $1. All in all, we've consumed 21 mangos, with one left to go. Just imagine if they all become trees. Love it! Our neighbors might not. hehe
ReplyDeleteSusieee
DeleteI want to be your neighbor. I'd sneak over at night with my ladder. Ha Oh, I can just taste the sweetness. 2 for a buck.... we have to pay so much for fruit here with all the trucking etc. That is why I like to grow all that I can.
I love trees but have never planted one myself. Our yard is full of plum trees, as my dad loved planting them. Great tip about the dried apricots, I didn't know they were that healthy.
ReplyDeleteMurees
DeleteOh plums are great too. Love them. I have one plum tree but it hasn't produced yet. I think all fruit has great merit in the body. I try not to go over board because I can't take a lot of sugar... or fruit sugar.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE apricots! Here our apricot season seems to be short, because I ignore the first month or so when the supermarket price is just way too high and the fruit is rock hard. Later the softer fruit is cheaper and then I eat them everyday. I'm giving serious thought to putting a couple of trees in pots if I can find dwarf varieties. and then I'll buy a dehydrator too.
ReplyDeleteRiver
DeleteThe Hunzas eat their fill of apricots, too, when in season and they just dry them out in the sun. I've studied them ever since I was in college and everything they do is for health. I've never tried growing in pots but I've heard they do just fine. I have 3 trees (from seed) that I'm babying along now. Not fruit trees but trees that are hard to get started. I had tried outside but the deer kept eating them so I'll try inside. You always know the good food to eat.
Can you recommend any books on the Hunzas and their lifestyle? I'll check at my local library too, but I'd like to buy one or two to keep at home.
DeleteI didn't realise that apricots were so beneficial. The ones we get here in the UK are flowery and tasteless. I'm enjoying peaches this season though we could grow neither apricots nor peaches in our climate I suspect.
ReplyDeleteRosalind
DeleteThe only trouble with fruit is that the season is so short. When they ripen, bang, they are ripe and gone, so you really must dry them or make preserves but that takes extra sugar, so that is out for me.
Enjoy your peaches and stand over the sink when you bite into the really juicy ones. Haha
Odd but I have never eaten a fresh apricot. That fat fighting property has me wanting to change that.
ReplyDeletePatti
DeleteI have to watch my carbs so I can't take too much fruit sugar either. Old age sucks.
I love apricots!! I am NOT a tree planter but I should be. When we moved here, we wanted to make the yard care as easy as possible.. whats easier than mowing a straight line? LOL.. that is why I only have 3 trees on my property and one of them needs cut down.
ReplyDeleteTerry
DeleteYou are soooo right. I've planted so many trees that mowing is like a maze. I do the mowing myself because the lawn services always nick the bark. I baby and cherish my trees more than the grass. You can never kill grass and I wish it were all stone or bark. My Bozeman lawn was landscaped just perfectly for my needs and that is what I hated to leave. Then too, if you get so many trees, no sunlight for the veggies. I've left big patches in the yard where the sun shines but my mowing is a damn. In fact I'm going out this morning and weed-whack a big section. That takes much longer than the mowing.
You can plant trees along the edge of your property and that does not interfere with the mowing. Listen to me..haha... It sounds like I'm pushing trees this week. LOL When a tree dies, I wait until the old stump send up new growth and after it gets a little bushy, I trim away all but the strongest sucker. I fence that and in a short time, there is a new tree. Do you ever do that? It saves on buying and digging more holes.
But, I have to agree, that mowing in a straight line is a lot less work.
Yesterday I went out by the front to dig the small rocks away and I just got started and my neighbor came over and chatted and chatted and I didn't get any work done. But, I love my neighbors sooooo much and enjoy their conversation. That is why I put up with this old house. I'd rather live in this neighborhood than anywhere else.
Love you and talk to you later.
Dear Manzanita, that's a brilliant idea--to plant a fruit tree in my back yard. Apricots and figs are my two favorite fruits. I wonder if apricots will grow in Missouri. I have to get busy and do some research! Peace.
ReplyDeleteDee.
ReplyDeleteI don't know but the apricots do OK with the cold here. The only danger is when it thaws, they blossom and it freezes again. That is bad. But this year seemed to be a bumper crop.
We plant fruit trees anywhere we can!
ReplyDeleteJJ
ReplyDeleteYou can be the new Johnny Appleseed. I wouldn't mind do that.
Your fruit trees grow twice as fast as our do. boo hoo
One of my favorite fruits, but here in California it appears in the spring.
ReplyDeleteInger
DeleteYou must be able to grow every fruit there is. One advantage to living in California. Ha
Those look amazing! :)
ReplyDeleteCarrie
DeleteAnd they taste the same way.
Thanks for visiting.
I had apricots from a tree in California and couldn't believe how amazingly sweet and delicious they were. I wish I could have a tree here in Hawaii. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteKay
DeleteYou would think they would grow in Hawaii too, if they grow in california. I always thought they were more of a cold climate fruit but there are all kinds of fruit strains now for all climates, it seems like.
Ohh, lucky!! I was just thinking we have all of these trees and none of them are fruit trees!! Apricots are one of my absolute faves! I didn't know they were even better dehydrated. They taste good like that too.
ReplyDeleteRosey
DeleteI use the dehydrator for a lot of things. It's a lot cheaper using that food/fruit in the winter here, than buying it. The price of fruit goes sky high in the winter with the cost of transportation. Sometimes I reconstruct fruit with a little water or it's easy to carry in a zip-lock in your purse for a quick snack.
Believe it or not I've never had an apricot in my life. But after reading through the comments and the health benefits I think I need to incorporate them :)
ReplyDeleteKeith
DeleteI don't think you are the only one who has never tasted an apricot because a few others said the same thing. In the fruits that are orange, the peach and the orange seem to be more widely eaten than the lowly apricot. sob :)
Hey Manzanita,
ReplyDeleteCoincidentally, I just finished off a bunch of dried apricots that I mixed in with my Granola. It was real good and yep, real healthy.
I have two apple trees in my garden. Have a good weekend.
Gary :)
Gary
DeleteI love apricots with granola, crunchy with a hint of tang. Those old grannies were not lying about that "apple a day thing." Lots of cliches about apples..... you have to be careful how you pack the barrel too.
I chop dried apricots and dates into my porridge, yum.
DeleteRiver
DeleteI'd love to eat breakfast with both of you. :)
Hi Manzanita .. oh I envy you those trees .. and just miss having a garden, for now that's the way it is ..
ReplyDeleteGorgeous fruits and photos .. cheers Hilary
Hilary
DeleteI feel sad for you too because during the summer, I'm outside working in my gardens all day long. This place suffered the years it sat vacant and the neighbors are noticing all that I'm doing.