# Plums



## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

I picked my first bucket of plums today, the grandson and I pulled up chairs next to one of the trees and pigged out.

Looks like the bulk of them will be ripe in about 2 weeks so I guess that means the dehydrator and canner will soon be going full time.

Dont think I ever remember them coming in this early before.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

The last of our plum trees kicked the bucket last year and as they never did well on our farm ... I did not replant.

Tart cherries on the other hand look to be a bumper crop this year and I will be working on them. May even toss a few in the dehydrator and see how they turn out.

Good luck with the plums.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Enjoy Dave! Our plums are full of worms


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

25 years ago, I used to make sweet plum wine and plum jam! Yummy!


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## txcatlady (Sep 26, 2013)

I have two plums on my plum tree. It bloomed right before freeze. Other tree bloomed after freeze and is bare. They are 6 years old and if they want my attention, they better pick up soon!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

Andi, I only wish we could grow cherries down here, apples would be really nice too but we have to settle for peaches, pears and plums.

tsrwivey, a lot of my plums have wind damage, blemishes caused by scrapes and brusing when the storms blow through. Those will be blanched and the skins scraped off and canned or be made into preserves. The bugs here dont seem to bother the plums like they do the peaches.

Linc, We make preserves and cobblers of the local wild plums. "I" think they have a better flavour than than any of the domestic verities I've ever eaten. This year the wild trees are so loaded the limbs are breaking with all the wind we've been having. Those little "Mexican Plums" do make about the best preserves and I guess we will have to give the sweet plum wine a try too.

Wow, the thought of a chilled glass of plum wine with some crushed mint or lemon balm mixed in...........


txcatlady, our last frost/freeze came just as the buds were starting to loosen up and I thought they were all lost - but - I was very wrong!!


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## cnsper (Sep 20, 2012)

*Andi said:


> The last of our plum trees kicked the bucket last year and as they never did well on our farm ... I did not replant.
> 
> Tart cherries on the other hand look to be a bumper crop this year and I will be working on them. May even toss a few in the dehydrator and see how they turn out.
> 
> Good luck with the plums.


Have you thought about trying the North American plum much smaller variety but very tasty. what about the Canadian plum probably the same or close to the North American plum


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

We have tried a number of different (tame) plum trees ... but they have never done well. Which is odd because the wild plums do very well and we have two wild plum thickets ... They are very small but big on taste.

Edit to add: I didn't know you didn't have apple trees in Texas ... live and learn.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

We just brought in 2-5 gallon buckets of plums tonight, just a fraction of 1 trees worth of fruit. They are the fruits damaged by wind and scarred by other hazards but still edible.

I'm going to follow Linc's suggestion and make plum wine out of these buckets, next will be jelly and as the best fruit ripens, they will be dried, canned and made into preserves.

We're going to be swimming in all things plum this year.


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

*Andi said:


> Edit to add: I didn't know you didn't have apple trees in Texas ... live and learn.


We do have trees but for the most part it doesn't get cold enough in the winters for them to bear fruit.

I've thought about trying some of the new hybrid trees that dont require as cold of winters but decided to stick with what I know will produce - barring late freeze/frost, uncontrollable pests, hail storms, lack of pollinators, limb breaking winds or marauding neighbour kids.


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## zombieresponder (Aug 20, 2012)

*Andi said:


> We have tried a number of different (tame) plum trees ... but they have never done well. Which is odd because the wild plums do very well and we have two wild plum thickets ... They are very small but big on taste.
> 
> Edit to add: I didn't know you didn't have apple trees in Texas ... live and learn.


We do have apple trees, but not as much variety to choose from due to chill hour requirements. I've got a couple of apple trees here that were planted last year and I know one of them has fruit on it. My plum and peach trees(planted with the apples) have fruit too. One of the peach trees has died I think....we've had waaaayyyy too much rain.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Low chill factor for appes.
Maybe this will help:
http://www.centuryfarmorchards.com/

eful Resources:

Apples Organized by ripening dates
Video:Choosing the Right Tree For Your Needs
Master List (pdf)- most will be unavailable if not ordered a year ahead
Detailed Information (about varieties) to download (pdf)
Old Southern Apples: Alphabetically Organized with
detailed descriptions, histories, and images included

Page 1: American Golden Russet, American Summer Pearmain, Arkansas Black, Aunt Rachel, Bevan's Favorite, Blacktwig (Mammoth), Carolina Red June, Esopus Spitzenberg, Father Abraham, Grimes Golden
Page 2: Hewes Crab (Va. Crab), Horse, Johnson Keeper, Joseph, Keener Seedling, King David, Kinnaird's Choice, Limbertwigs, Lowry, Magnum Bonum, Mary Reid, Newtown Pippin, Red Rebel
Page 3: Roxbury Russet, Smokehouse, Sops Of Wine, Summer Banana, Terry Winter, Virginia Beauty, William's Favorite, Winesaps, Yates, Yellow June, York, Ashmead Kernal
Modern Apples: Disease Resistant and appropriate for southern climates--detailed descriptions and images.

Modern Apples : Enterprise, Florina, Gala, Goldrush, Hopples Antique Gold, Liberty, Redfree, Virginia Gold

Good Luck.


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## zombieresponder (Aug 20, 2012)

My philosophy is to stick it in the ground and see if it lives/produces. If it doesn't survive and produce with minimal or no care from me, it's not suited for my place.

I'm going to end up with a _forest_ of fruit trees.


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## txcatlady (Sep 26, 2013)

I picked both my plums tonight. One is ready and the other may need to sit a day. So many choices on what to do with them! I do wish I had access to wild plums. They do make the best jelly ever!


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## Davarm (Oct 22, 2011)

txcatlady said:


> I picked both my plums tonight. One is ready and the other may need to sit a day. So many choices on what to do with them! I do wish I had access to wild plums. They do make the best jelly ever!


Dont know exactly in Texas you are but just about anywhere east of I-35 and north of San Antonio should be prime for wild plums.

In the next few weeks just drive along the road and look for thickets with ripening fruit. Most land owners around here are more than willing to let peeps pick them on their property.

You can keep your eyes open in the spring for thickets of trees loaded with white sweet smelling blooms and check them again in early summer for ripe fruit.

Not many things smell as nice as wild plum blooms in the spring breeze.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

zombieresponder said:


> My philosophy is to stick it in the ground and see if it lives/produces. If it doesn't survive and produce with minimal or no care from me, it's not suited for my place.
> 
> I'm going to end up with a _forest_ of fruit trees.


What part of Texas are you in? I'm in Tyler (east Texas). You may be able to save me a lot of trial and error!


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