Peach Pit Rings

FUNNY THE THINGS girls used to do. This piece of girl lore, rubbing a peach pit into a ring, is really a pretext for hanging out with your friends on a late summer afternoon. Here’s how to do it.

1. Eat a peach.
2. Scrape the peach pit on the sidewalk or asphalt, back and forth on one side, then back and forth on the other. You will think nothing is happening, but in fact, microscopic peach pit fibers are being rubbed off.
3. Eventually the sides will begin to flatten and the inner pith will peek through.
4. Once the sides are flat the ring is close at hand. Just smooth the top and bottom, and rub the inside smooth with a stick.

If you don’t want to make the pit into a ring, you can plant it. Clean the pit and place it in a plastic bag in the back of the refrigerator. In late September, plant it five inches down in healthy soil. In Spring, if you are very lucky—and in the right temperate zone—the peach tree will grow, slowly. Water and fertilize, and in two or three years, the tree might bear fruit.