The Plum Patch...

 The Plum Patch

When we moved here, the neighbor pointed out the plum patch to the north of the property.  We rode his ATV out to get a closer look...

It looks pretty nice from a distance but as you get closer you can see all the bryony choking out some of the trees.  Bryony is a terrible noxious weed that is almost impossible to get rid of.  It grows on some of the apple trees on our property but I am able to pull most of it out.

The brown vines on the trees is the bryony

The plum patch is also where the coyotes hang out.  Here you can see an entrance that goes back into the plum bushes...

So, we have been here 3 years and I finally got out to pick some plums!  There are 3 different kind of plums in the patch.  The first one pictured is what I consider a "regular" plum...

Then, there were a few smaller purple plums...

Finally, there are a bunch of greengage plums.  These plums are smaller green/yellow colored plums.  They are a European plum but originated from Iran.  They are considered a fine dessert plum.

I was able to pick quite a good size bucket of the greengages.  

I wanted to make some jam.  I could only find European recipes that used grams and milliliters in their measurements.  Luckily, I have a food scale so this wasn't a problem and I got the jam made.  This is the first pectin-free jam that I have ever made.  It turned a deep brown color similar to a plum butter.  I was kind of hoping it would stay that goofy green color...that would have been great for Halloween...

After making 2 batches of jam, I still had plums leftover.  If you have ever worked with plums, you know that once you pick them, they need to be used right away.  They don't really keep that well.  I decided to dehydrate some of the plums...

...and then I made an upside down plum cake with the last of the plums.  I am not sure how appetizing this looks.  It may have looked better with purple plums but it tasted great!

The plums were small and the pit did not really come out easily but I am happy with the results.  Hard to pass up on free food!  I "planted" the pits out by the chickens/ducks so we will see if I get any plum bushes growing next spring. 

A wonderful, egg delivery customer shared his Italian Plum tree with us!  I also made some Italian Plum jam.

I picked up some grounders, pitted them, and gave some to the girls!  They loved them!

Have an eggcellent day!

~Denise