Thursday, June 24, 2010

Rushing to Ripen

Plums (Prunus domestica 'Santa Rosa')

The plum tree is laden with fruits this year.  When plums ripen it happens in one week or two.  It's very fast.  Last week they were green with a tint of red on some of them.   Now there's no turning back!  They're ready.   Plums can be harvested before they are totally ripe.  They continue to ripen and get sweeter as they sit on the shelf - up to a certain point. 

Harvesting plums is one of the many fun summer activities in the backyard.  I enlist my kids to harvest them.  The tree is not very tall (it's only about nine feet) so they use a stool and an apple picker for the ones that are out there.  These plums are very sweet and excellent for eating. 

These plums will be a juicy welcome to my two older kids and my husband when they come back from a mission trip.  
Ripe fruits are bluish in color.

In case we fail to bring the fruits in, the Blue-Jay birds are more than happy to help themselves.  I spotted two of them already circling the tree trying to stake their claim.

Only a day or two to go before they're ready.

 With the way they look I might need to get my canning paraphernalia ready now. 

4 comments:

Alex Davis said...

Great post, I am trying my luck with a garden this year. I planted some corn, lettuce, cucumbers and some pumpkins. Plants usually die when I touch them :-), but this year they are growing. I will work my way up to more complex fruits and vegetables in the coming year.

Unknown said...

Those plums look Great, and as soon as I post this comment, I'll be running out to get me some...
Awesome blog, keep up the good work, I'll definitely be following along...

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