Karol Peat, aka The Peach Lady, is making plans for her annual peach pickup day Aug. 24. She’s been making trips to the Western Slope to buy peaches — hundreds of cases of them — for 16 years.It all started when her piano teacher and she were waxing poetic about the great-tasting peaches they remembered from the Delta area.“My teacher said I could use her car if I’d go pick up some peaches,” Peat said.The teacher asked other students whether they wanted a case, and Peat asked her friends. Peat ended up with orders for 75 cases.Peat added a dollar to the cost of each box of peaches to cover fuel expense. Peat said, “We ended up having enough money to cover the cost of our boxes of peaches.”As word spread about Peat’s peach runs, the trips increased.“Then I started renting a truck to make the run,” she said. Last year, she had orders from 225 customers and brought back 12,000 pounds of peaches.“My living room is piled high with boxes of peaches with just a small space to walk through,” she said. “I worry that the floor will cave in.”Her system works like this. Customers can call her at 473-9315 or e-mail springscreeksoaps@aol.com and leave their phone number. Peat will contact customers to let them know the price for this year’s crop and get their orders. Customers can pick up their peaches on Aug. 25.“I talked to the owner of the orchard where I buy the peaches, and they said the peaches are early this year,” she said. “I will be getting Red Globe peaches, which are cling-free. The boxes contain about 25 pounds of peaches.”So what do you do with 25 pounds of peaches? A tip from Peat last year: Freeze them whole and defrost in the microwave when ready to use them.I froze a couple of boxes of Peat’s peaches last summer. When I was ready to use one on cottage cheese, or use several for pie, they turned out great. Here’s what you need to do.• Place several whole, unpeeled peaches in a gallon-size zip-lock freezer bag and seal. Place flat in the freezer. If stacking bags, be careful not to put a lot of weight on the bottom bags. You risk causing a crack, which makes the thawed fruit mushy. Once the peaches are frozen, they’re like baseballs, and you can squeeze them into other spaces without damaging them.• When ready to use, take out as many as you need for a recipe. Place them in the microwave and heat on high 30 to 60 seconds per peach, or until the peaches are slightly soft. Run them under water and the skin falls off, just as if you’d parboiled them.—Farney she appears Tuesdays on KOAA’s Comcast Channel 5 at noon.

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