Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Mirabelle Plums

I'm not very observant, especially outdoors.  The tree in the foreground below is actually two trees growing together.  There's a lot of that going on around here, and since we were late arriving on the scene, we don't know why.


I can't tell you whether or not this tree bore fruit in previous years.  I know it produced the red things, and they're not edible.  Here's what grows on one half:


This year, the other half looks like this:


And this...bigtime:


I was in the pool Sunday, when Charles began lobbing the fruits at to me.


I had a little fruit feast.


We decided they're plums, so I hunted online until I found a match: Mirabelle plums.  Tasty.  Very tasty.  Sour skin and sour near the pit, but most of the flesh is juicy and sugar-sweet.  Now I have to decide whether or not to harvest and put them up...as something.  Can you imagine peeling 1,837 bitsy plums?  Me neither!  And just how much jam can a family eat?  Plum pie?  Wikipedia says they're used in pies, too.  I've never heard of plum pie.  Allrecipes.com, I'm on my way.  Maybe.



Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.  I Peter 5:6, 7

2 comments:

Jeannie said...

We make plum jelly every year. I never peel the plums or fuss with them at all other than to wash them before I toss them in a big kettle with just enough water to barely cover them while the juice cooks out.

I've never tasted a plum that looks like that....but they sure look yummy!

CarolineNot said...

Prompted by your encouragement, Jeannie, I've landed myself on cooks.com, where recipes for both plum jelly and pies abound. I've never made jelly (only jam and preserves), but it looks like a straightforward process. Gotta love the no-peel part.

Now my challenge is to make myself go gather the plums. I think I'll have to rake away what the chickens have pecked at, start with cleared ground, and shake the tree, the suggested method of harvesting Mirabelles.

Thanks for the input, Jeannie. Ü