A Harvest of Plums
Last Friday, my mother came over for dinner and brought with a box full of sweet, tart goodness…
Plums harvest
Don’t these plums look delicious?
There is a single plum tree on the family farm that is incredibly prolific.
Plums harvest
Every year, I look forward to making jam ever since my mother taught me how 3 years ago.
I usually have enough jam to last our family an entire year plus more to give as gifts to teachers and friends over the Christmas holiday.
After my mother left that evening, I got right to work and made my first batch of plum jam.
This time, I left the peels on the plums, which dissolve during the cooking process and create the beautiful ‘plum’ color.
Other years, I have peeled the plums by boiling them first for 40 seconds. It is a rather tedious process, but some people prefer plum jam without the peels.
For me, I like to make things simple – so the peels stayed.
Every summer brings a wonderful fruit harvest. First are the peaches followed by the plums. In a couple of weeks, I will be busy with the apple harvest. I got a new recipe for apple caramel jam that I can’t wait to try out.
For more information on how to make your own jam, check out my post “A Harvest of Peaches and Jam”.
**It may be hot outside, but there a lot growing in the garden. Join me every day this week as I post what is happening in my garden.
Noelle Johnson, aka, 'AZ Plant Lady' is a author, horticulturist, and landscape consultant who helps people learn how to create, grow, and maintain beautiful desert gardens that thrive in a hot, dry climate. She does this through her consulting services, her online class Desert Gardening 101, and her monthly membership club, Through the Garden Gate. As she likes to tell desert-dwellers, "Gardening in the desert isn't hard, but it is different."
Each year we have only ever had enough plums to eat off the tree. But this year we have had a much bigger harvest. Our Santa Rosa plums are coming off right now, and we have two Satsuma trees that I think will be ready in about a month. I almost cut our old Satsuma down, but my husband just pruned it way back and I am so glad he didn't cut it all the way, because we have a lot of plums on it. I just can't remember when they will be ripe. But the main reason I commented is because I would love to hear about the caramel apple jam. That sounds amazing and I hope you share! I have a 3 month old baby, so I don't know that I will in actuality have time to make jam, but I would love to try it next year if I don't get around to it this year. Thanks!!
That looks wonderful. I love plum jam. Mom taught me to make jam more than 50 years ago. I got married in 1970 and received a blender in my shower. That summer when I thought of peeling plums for jam, instead I sliced them into the blender and added just enough water for it to puree them. Then I made the jam with my plum puree. It was delicious and like you mention it had such a pretty color. So I always make my jams that way now.