Apricot harvest: 1 pound. Plums from a couple weeks ago: 2 pounds too green.
Plums too soon and plums just right. We started picking them a couple of week ago and so far the total amounts to just under 19lbs (8.5 kilos). At first we did the shake-the-tree method, but unripened ones would also fall into the net. So we tried handpicking but that got too tedious since the fruit was ripening day by day. In the end I remembered the mango pickers that we had in Hawaii. Why not one for tiny plums? A small cloth sack was attached to one end of a bamboo pole and with a quick tug, plums were falling easily into a pouch.
We love our fruit but this is way too much, and we don't know of anyone nearby that would appreciate this particular plum. I've even gone so far as to throw the bruised ones into the forest for the squirrels.
Recent harvest, perfectly ripe.
6 comments:
nice harvests!
Those plums certainly look plump and healthy,maybe they would be suitable for making a spicy relish?
Kat - the yellow jackets thought so too! It's weird...we don't want to pick them too soon but if we leave the plums on the trees until they are perfectly ripe, the yellow jackets fly in and start eating them. I don't mind sharing but they should finish what they start and now fly from plum to plum taking a bite out of them. Wasteful insects!
Andrea - I will need to look into that. So far my only idea is to make gelato with them. I made jam last year but as I'm not so much of a jam person... The ideal thing to do would be to sell these roadside in a cute little stand. Mirabelles for 1€ a pint!
maybe you could do a paper bag over them? I've seen people do that sometimes...you may also want to look up how to make plum wine (umeshu) dunno the portions but I think it is white liqueur & rock sugar, just remove the stems and let steep.
Kat - there are hundreds and hundreds of large cherry-sized plums on the tree and there is no way of protecting them. Plus, with the occasional strong gusts that blow in, those bags would fly right off or get damaged by the rain and hail. Just one of those rules of nature I guess...gotta feed the bugs too. Heehee...
ah! I see, I would try making plum wine then :)
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