Monday, September 12, 2011

Plum Good


Remember her... She's a plum tree. 

This is her, standing quietly at the edge of our field near the garden. You can see her silhouette in the early evening sun. 

One wouldn't know she was there with the vegetation that has grown up around her. It was her blossoming spring branches that caught my eye. 


When Mike was out in the garden one evening, he noticed a plum. 


Although still small, it tasted warm and sweet. 

We waited several weeks for more to grow...

...and grow they did. 

In the end, there were a total of six plums hanging from her graceful but tired limbs. From what I've heard from local orchardists, plum trees are very particular about bearing fruit. They do not necessarily fruit annually as the conditions have to be just right. In our valley, wind, rain, and cold may affect cross-pollination. 

Our plan is to clear the brush out from around her so that her old branches and trunk get more sunshine. Then she can decide whether or not she'd like to bear fruit. 

She's beautiful just the same. 

43 comments:

  1. Lucky you - a) having the room for a plum tree, and b) it being the golden fleshed ones which are always sweeter than the purple ones.

    My advice would be to feed it once you have cleared around it, and I'm sure it will reward you ten-fold in years to come :-)

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  2. Hi Trina,
    Living in Southern California, one would think that fruit grows everywhere but that is not always the case. At our previous home, we had the most magnificent plum tree which would produce bumper crops every year, until one year, not more than a few plums... Santa Rosa to be exact. At the same time, an apricot tree only produced a couple of the ten years we lived in that house. We didn't care for them any differently but I'll bet the difference was from the overgrowth from above in hedges and neighbors' trees. Your tree is lovely as is everything about your family and your home! Love your blog! Thank you!

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  3. Blessings to you. What a treasure to find a plum tree. I can only imagine how fortunate you must feel to have that tree.
    I can see many plum dishes and lovely vignettes with plums in your future.
    pve

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  4. Isn't it thrilling when your trees start to bear fruit? We have an heirloom variety called "Green Gage Plum," and it seems to be very hardy. It bears fruit consistently every other year and the plums are so sweet and just divine. Your yard and garden are simply gorgeous!

    ~Julia

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  5. She is beautiful. I love plums especially greengage plums.

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  6. Plums are so good. Our purple plumb tree does bear a good amount of fruit, though often birds often get to them before we do. Our apple and pear trees don't actually produce fruit that we can eat...no sure what the problem is but more than likely as you mentioned the cross polination or something must not be taking place correctly. They are still pretty trees though. Hope your efforts yield a bountiful crop of plums for you next season.
    Blessings,
    Cindy

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  7. Hello Trina

    This has not been a plum year in my garden but when the conditions are favourable, we can harvest plums by the bucketful. Then we can make enough jam to last us through the meagre years.

    It may be worthwhile planting another, compatible plum to be sure of cross fertilization.

    Anna

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  8. How lucky to have a plum tree. They are so expensive here in the stores.
    Chris

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  9. What a great idea...I hope this makes her happier!

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  10. Six very special fruit indeed! Hope she feels happy enough next year to yield more fruit for you :o)

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  11. She is a beaut! What beautiful gifts she gives....

    Linda@Lime in the coconut

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  12. Looks like a cherryplum tree. If you give it a really good prune after it fruits and dies down for the winter she will come back next season bigger and more fruitful than ever! I have plenty of very very old cherryplums on my property and the ones I 'hacked back' are prolific with fruit. That's if I can get to them before the cockatoos do!

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  13. I'm sure your Plum tree would love to have more sunlight around it...your plums look delicious...you have a very nice garden of eden there...I enjoy your blog....Mel...over at Mel's Designs from the Cabin blog...

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  14. What a beautiful tree! You are so fortuante to have the orchards nearby. Yum!!

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  15. Trina, my very first meeting with your blog, was when you had just found Her, i remember the post fondly! I am visiting my parents in the Danish countryside this September, and have just introduced your blog to my mother. I suspect she Will be Reading along from a far!! You and her have a lot of gardening in common. :)

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  16. the mantle shot is stunning trina.

    at an estate sale this weekend i picked up 2 antique plum pudding molds so i've been looking up plum pudding recipes. they can also be used for ice cream molds so i may just use them for that instead but they are really beautiful and were only $2 each. so plums are on my mind.

    xo

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  17. How delightful ~ nothing like the treat of fresh fruit warmed by the sun. :-)

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  18. Wild fruit always feels like such a blessing, doesn't it?
    xoxo

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  19. That spring on the mantle turned into a plum tree? how long did it take to grow as big as she is today? Beautiful!

    I love your desk, it is so nice to have pieces that have meaning from our own families but also pieces that were manful to others and now live with us until time to move onto another family.

    What a wonderful way to spend the day...on the floor playing with your beautiful babies.

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  20. What a lovely surprise! :) She IS beautiful! And those plums look scrumptious!

    Have a happy day,
    Gail

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  21. Isn't it so exciting when your trees produce fruit. There is nothing like the taste of something you have grown yourself. A little TLC and your tree should yield many more plums.

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  22. Such a gorgeous tree! We've had many fruit trees over the years, some that bore fruit, some that didn't. I never really worried either way as even without fruit they were beautiful in their own right. Enjoy and treasure her....

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  23. Liberate her from the undergrowth and give her some sulphate of potash - there is nothing more generous than a grateful plum tree!

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  24. What a happy post! Your plum tree is lovely :)

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  25. That plum tree is lucky to have you guys! My grandma used to make the best plum jam!

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  26. great plan ! I hope she will be fruitful !

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  27. Hi Trina,
    Growing up we had a plum tree in the back yard and it was wonderful to climb. The branches were low enough to hop on and then they spread out enough to really go high. I see what's in your future. :)
    Love the mantel photograph.
    xoxo Dianne

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  28. hi!!
    love that last shot... it's like the plums all lined up in a row for their photo!!
    hope its cooled down. apparently plums like it hot:)

    xojoan

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  29. Please say you'll show us pictures of the cleared area and report on her progress next summer : )

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  30. Hello,
    You have a beautiful blog! What a treat to find some yummy fruit where you did not expect it? I think you have a great attitude to see weather is produces more fruit or not.. it is a grand tree.
    Blessings~

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  31. What a beautiful tree. You are so lucky to have a plum tree. I didn't know they are so picky on bearing fruit. At least you were able to get a few plums. Thanks for the photo's. I'm always looking forward to seeing what you have growing on your farm.

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  32. Just gorgeous...from inside on your mantel to outside bearing fruit. Lovely photos!

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  33. Such a story! I did not know this about plum trees. In my childhood my parents had a lovely plum tree in the middle of the garden and every year we were showered with what's called here prune plums. How I even now appreciate her fruits!
    Dark purple with green flesh; we kids would compete with the bees to finish the harvest....
    Oh, plum cakes, made with a yeast dough! Slightly tart with added streusel for sweetness and crunch!!! Try it!

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  34. Beautiful 'buried' treasure...love finds like this. I'm sure she'll be much happier now that she's going to be properly loved and cared for.
    xo J~

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  35. What a gorgeous tree and adore the flowering branches in your home. Hope you're having a great weekend ~

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  36. Such a beautiful tree and a fabulous outlook. This post totally put a smile on my face today! :)

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  37. What a nice surprise to have plums! My Dad has plum trees and yes, they can be persnickity. Fruit trees love to be pruned so give it a hard pruning and open up the tree for sunlight by removing all vertical growing branches which will allow the sun to ripen the fruit once it sets.

    We also purchased an existing farm and have 70 year old apricot trees that produced bushels of apricots last year much to our surprise and delight.

    Thank you for sharing your bounty with us...

    - Julie, A Prairie Thistle Life

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  38. yummie...
    i had a plum tree and some years it was loaded and others nothing.. so strange... then a bug got it and took over and i had to remove it... made me so sad. so i planted 2 olive trees.. and i adore them.. nothing more fun then seeing them grow... have missed you friend... xx pam

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Thank you for leaving your thoughts. Kind regards, Catherine