Does anyone have any ideas of what to do with peach and pear thinnings? My three year old trees are way too loaded .Are they safe to feed to goats or potbellied pigs,put in compost ? I Have heard that peach pits are poison. Any ideas are appreciated.Thank You.

-- carlasloan (hillsidefarm@texoma.net), May 08, 2000

Answers

They are safe to put in your compost pile. I would not feed them to the animals. I believe you are right about peach pits being poison (though there is a variety with an edible pit -- they are very closely related to almonds, and the almond nut is just a 'peach' pit). I can't remember what is in them that is poison, though -- hopefully somebody else can help. But you definitely do want to thin the excess fruit off your trees, or you won't have a nice crop of big fruits when they ripen.

-- Kathleen Sanderson (stonycft@worldpath.net), May 08, 2000.

I believe the relevant poison is cyanide...remember all those old detective movies where they smell almonds in the poisoned drink?. Yet I also know that the people of Hunza in the Karakoram Mountains of Pakistan use every part of the apricot (which has the same type of nut meat), and they are reknowned for being long-lived. I've eaten a few and am none the worse for wear, though perhaps I didn't eat enough of them.

-- snoozy (allen@oz.net), May 08, 2000.

'tis cyanide (or a compound that releases it in the digestive system). Same thing as with bitter almonds. Same thing (roughly) as animals getting cyanide poisoning by grazing overly-lush sorghum. As a matter of interest, can also happen with peach/plum/apricot/almond/nectarine/etc LEAVES - like if you have to lop one of those trees, don't feed the nice green foliage to anything.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), May 09, 2000.

Thank you all so much for all the help.I would have hated th poision one of my girls through stupidity on my part.Ireally appreciate all of you taking the time to answer my question. Thanks,Carla

-- carlasloan (hillsidefarm@texoma.net), May 09, 2000.