Friday, August 31, 2012

Purple Plum Harvest



The purple plum tree on my dad's property looks terrible. It hardly ever has any leaves and its branches are dry and brittle, the bark is scaly and the whole thing looks like it is on its last legs. But every year it produces an abundance of the most delicious BIG purple plums. Last year I missed harvesting them - I think between vacations and starting Kindergarten and the blue jays visiting we ended up donating most of the crop back to nature. This year I've been meaning to get out there for over a week and today it finally happened.

That crazy old tree has so many plums on it I am surprised the branches aren't breaking off. I reached up to shake one so the ripe plums would fall off and the entire branch broke off in my hand. I think I got one third of the plums on the tree and have enough for a double batch of jam.



Of course there will have to be plum cobbler, and a plum pie (per the request of my 3 year old - he always wants every fruit turned into a pie). But I must make jam - I can't resist the chance to add to my almost-full jam shelf.

While I was giving the plums their photo shoot, this happened:




Of course, I was happy to share. She snatched a plum off the top of my pretty pile and gobbled it right down. The other chickens got wind of her find right away and all came running, so I had to make off with my pretty plums before they all got eaten. I threw out some of the smaller ones for them, though. It's the least I can do after stealing away all their eggs this morning. :)

7 comments:

  1. Joy of Cooking has a plum cake cockaigne that's DELISH! I used gf flour, but for your guys you could just follow the recipe as is.

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    1. I'll have to look it up Pamela - I just cut up enough plums for a double batch of jam and I still have several POUNDS left!

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    2. Pamela, I made this tonight and everybody LOVED it! Thanks for the tip!!!

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  2. I just love that last picture!

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    1. I know Heather - I honestly want to frame it. It totally captures this particular hen's personality. :)

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  3. Heather I'm loving your blog! I'm inspired to do a winter garden now! Do you have plans for your extra plums? My friend Carrie started making jam and canning last year and would love to get some plums!!

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    1. Kimberly, I'm so glad you like it! You'll have to tell me what you end up planting. And we used the rest of our plums for more jam and dessert - bummer! I'll keep your friend in mind if we end up with more and let you know. :)

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