The bounty of Nature is best when you bite into a tree ripened fruit off your very own tree. You get the full flavor as well as rich juiciness dripping down your chin. Peaches, nectarines, and plums, as well as pluots, apriums, plumcots, etc. are in about early midseason. Some have finished, but there are many varieties still to come. There are many flavors to be tasted from among the many varieties available. Heirloom varieties offer another group of surprises for those willing to look for those less common varieties and grow them to harvest. To check for ripeness, gently press the fruit to see if it gives a little when pressed. In some cases, you will be able to smell the ripe fruit. There is something special about inhaling the ripe aroma of fruits still hanging on the branches, then plucking a fruit to bite into. There are many varieties of peaches. We are in about early midseason for those. Recent hybridizing efforts have yielded some very tasty early varieties in both yellow and white types and the season has only just begun! The old variety Babcock has been far superceded by newer varieties. Much better flavors w/o that slightly bitter aftertaste. Gold Dust is another early one, this time in yellow. My favorites are yet to come, but have to admit that the doughnut peach is a current favorite. When tree ripe, it is very tasty indeed! The longer it is left on the tree, the more flavorful and sweet it become…don’t wait too long or the very ripe fruits fall. The birds may also sample a good part of your harvest, so protect those fruits if you want to enjoy some yourself!