Our
lovely neighbors' plum tree was plum full of plums this year and they
shared the bounty with us. He estimated that the tree had about 150
lbs of fruit on it total - the limbs were bent to the ground - loaded
with fruit.
They are small, red plums - sweet flesh and tart skins. Delicious!!
We
did what our neighbors did - washed and cut them in half, removed the
seed and then packed them in ziplock bags to freeze. We did 2 cup
quantities so they'd be easy to use for smoothies, pies, crisps and jam
later.
Here's
a tip for quick processing. Use a grapefruit spoon to quickly get the
seed out of the fruit. We set up a short assembly line with one person
cutting the plums in half and putting the half with the seed in another
bowl. The second [and third] person took the seeds out with a
grapefruit spoon. The work moves fast and we did two or three gallons
at a time in short order.
Here's a good recipe for Plum Jam. Oh, and then there's plum sauce. I also love plums mixed with pears in jam. And crisps.
Mmmmm.