This has been a work week at home. The topics are displayed in the photos below.
Every few years some trees produce a glut of their fruit or nuts. There is some suggestion the excessive acorns or other fruit falls or is knocked to the ground for domestic animals (pigs) to eat. These fruits or nuts are called mast and so it’s called a mast year. Two varieties of plums have ripened and there are more than I know what to do with. A third type will be ready late this coming week. I don’t know if plums “mast” in the manner of oaks. It seems that way to me this year but others claim masting happens mostly in wind fertilized trees. Not plums then?
Plum trees have advantages for my location. While cherries sometimes do well (but not always), the birds take most of the fruit because the original trees are way too big for old humans to get to. There was one apple tree here when we bought the place but it is an unknown red type. Again, it is now big tree and fruit is hard to harvest. There was (is) a single pear tree that has stayed alive, but barely. No pollinator, either. I planted hardy peaches – I got a bunch of little ones – hard/never ripened.
So, I have plums. Lots of plums. I will give away most of the fruit.
The earliest ripener is Methley, a small dark purple fruit with red flesh. Last year I soaked a gallon of the little plums with a quart of cheap vodka to make a liqueur. It worked nicely. I still have 95% of it. I bought a bottle of sparkling (carbonated) water to make a cocktail. This is just fooling around as a curiosity.
I’m trying for crock pot jam this year. The right-most photo above is the “in progress” stage of Methley Jam. The left-most photo is a plum called Starking® Delicious™, from Stark Bros of Missouri. [The claim is that this is a “Johnson”.] It has red skin that’s slightly tart and a sweet, with deep red flesh. It is the third to ripen of my four oldest trees. {I have three newer types and will know next year where they fit into the schedule.}
Shiro, a yellow round plum is ripe and I’ve given many pounds away. More to go.
The middle photo indicates the most work this past week. I’ve moved plain old dirt onto the future “boulodrome” – – the playing surface “terrain” for Pétanque – lawn boules game with metal balls.
The site is next to the house where I wanted a non-burnable area in case of a wildfire. After leveling and covering with gravel, I had a type of material called “screening” put on. I thought it would be smaller size. Oops! I raked the larger pieces off and stockpiled that, leaving a small size beige gravel. That surface is on the right side that extends to the tree. I carried dirt and made a rectangle about 14 feet by 50 feet. Next, I need to roll or pack the surface so the balls will roll instead of going “plop” on the loose dirt surface.
When I want a less strenuous outing I cut limps out of selected trees, spread them about, and let the deer eat the leaves. Hawthorne and choke cherry have fruit; cherry and apple provide just leaves. When the deer are done, I clean up by getting rid of the small pieces and saving some of the larger stuff for the wood stove.
The deer will come with me there and it is fun to watch the interactions, especially when there is only one branch available. This spring’s young still have spots.
Keeping Track
on the Naneum Fan
John