Our old Victoria Plum tree rarely fails and we have another good harvest this year. However, when we had a day of strong winds last week a sizeable limb snapped off. This won't have much impact on furture crops but does give the tree a lop-sided appearence. It will probably grow out of it in due course.
It was time to start picking. Interestingly, I did not come across any wasps and hardly any plum had a wasp hole. This was a little surprising as, largely due to the warm Spring and Summer, it has been a bad year for wasps as many have noted. (From an alternative perspective, you could say it has actually been a good year for wasps).
The greengages (so sweet) have done well too, so all-in-all a notable year for stone fruit. We will be dehydrating some of the plum crop and also storing some in the freezer. Frozen plums are fine for future crumbles or if there is an urge to make jam during the winter. Our favourite is plum and ginger jam.
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| Plum halves ready for freezing |
I gave never tried dehydrating fruit like this, I'm wondering if I can do some apple rings when our tree is ready for picking 🍎🍎🍏🍏
ReplyDeleteApples dyhydrate well. There is a concentrated zing to them.
DeletePlums! My mouth is watering!
ReplyDeleteOur neighbours dehydrate apple rings. He likes them absolutely crisp. I did some in the oven to the 'soft andvchewy' stage.
Yes, we aim for a soft, chewy finish too.
DeleteSo glad to learn that you didn't encounter wasps!
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be everywhere this year. A friend lost two colonies of bees recently because of marauding wasps. This is why it is a bit strange our plums have not been affected.
DeleteHow lovely to have another healthy crop. I have never thought of adding ginger to plum jam. What type of ginger do you use? Fresh, ground, or something else?
ReplyDeleteElla
Hi Ella, we use stem ginger for this. We always have root ginger in the fridge, though, as a lot of our meals are Chinese-orientated.
DeleteOoh, well done for the plum haul! I went to a nearby countrypark and foraged two whole ice-cream tubs of different types of plums- they were marvellous- well I'm still eating the tiny golden plums!
ReplyDelete