Peng, I don’t know where you are located; so, I can’t comment much on what will grow well for you. I lilke the taste of Santa Rosa; but it doesn’t do well here, as mentioned above. The one variety that grows well for me and tastes good is Italian Prune, which is freestone and freezes well. I only have a backyard urban garden with a single plum tree; so, I haven’t tried many plum varieties. You should ask for responses from experienced plum growers whose climate is similar to yours.
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I’m in the Seattle area. I’ve heard that methley, shiro, beauty, and European plums do well here. I love shiro plums. But also read on here that methley & beauty taste just ok.
I’m in Vancouver, BC, which is similar to Seattle but cooler. I agree that the varieties that you mentioned should grow well, except that I haven’t grown Methley. As far as taste, individual likes vary tremendously. I’m sure that my perception of good tasting fruit is very different from yours, because I consider Shiro to be the worst tasting plum that I grow. So, my taste recommendations would not work for you.
But, to give you an idea of what I really like, I tasted what was labeled as a plumcot last year and decided that it was better than any of the plums that I have. I think that the “plumcot” was actually the pluot variety Dapple Dandy, which I am planning to graft onto my plum tree as a replacement for Shiro. I have no idea if it will grow well in this climate.
Beauty has terrible texture, I agree with you. Makes great jam. I want to try juicing it since it is super productive, juicy, bad texture, flavorful and beautiful color skin which shows in the juice.
I find it too acidic, not enough sugar, not much flavor in flesh during that brief window when the texture doesn’t suck. I don’t thin, and it overbears, that may have some effect.
For jam and desserts with plum in them, we really like Italian Prune plums, available all year because they are so easy to freeze.
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I really liked beauty last year, but I tend to like sour and firm stone fruit, and I’m guessing I picked it on the early side for most people. it’s especially great for the season given that it ripens with methley. for me it spans from the last cherries to the first peaches, July 13-Aug 1 last year, a good window
The first time I had Italian plum sorbetto was a revelation. The flavor and color both much brighter than I expected.
Beauty skin is another level though if you want something intense. Like passion fruit level sweet-tart.
Like the opposite of mirabelle.
If I remember, and probably posted before, I made jam with bland grocery store nectarines mixed with beauty and it was outstanding. When my frost peach starts producing again I want to remember to try it with beauty, since it also isn’t the most flavorful.
How do you prep and store your frozen prunes? Washed, pitted, air excluded?
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Italian prune plums are the easiest fruit to pick and freeze that I’m aware of. I pick them when fully ripe; then they are washed, cut in half along the obvious line, frozen in a single layer on a tray, and finally packed into zipper freezer bags. They keep well for over a year, even though there is air in their bags.
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I had a very large Italian prune plum. I picked the fruit and froze it. Some pitted others were frozen whole. Upon defrosting, they were horrible. The smell alone prevented me from making jam or baking with them. What did you do to make them smell fresh after freezing ?
What did they smell like?
They smelled like prune plums when they were fresh or frozen, but they never smelled bad, even when frozen for over a year. The aroma is stronger after they’ve been frozen and thawed, but they still smell normal. I often eat plum coffee cake that my wife makes, and it is delicious.
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Tired, Old prunes. Not a fresh taste or look like frozen berries.
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I often vacuum seal when I freeze fruit.
I prefer drying them. That’s what prunes are for.
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They can nicely, too
@vitog if i may ask, what varieties in Vancouver have you grown that were too bland (13 or below Brix) and which are the best (14 Brix or above)? Have you compared richards early Italian vs regular Italian?
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Tubig, to my taste, Shiro and Beauty plums are bland and too watery when ripe. They taste better when picked at the right stage of underripeness, but that stage is very short-lived. Red Heart is just bland. I have never tested the Brix level of any of my fruits; I’m only interested in the actual taste.
The Italian Prune graft is from a neighbor who did not know the variety, but I think that it is the basic original variety because the fruit is fairly small and I got it 37 years ago from an older tree.
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I think I generally agree with you about Beauty and Shiro, but its about texture as much as flavor for me.
One of the benefits of knowing the brix of your fruit is that it gives a better idea if yours might be similar to the ones other people are eating.
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@vitog I take it you’ve done a soil test and/or applied fertilizer to improve the sweetness?(i.e. potash, etc).
@tubig, I’ve never had a soil test in the 45+ years that I’ve been gardening in this city lot. However, I do apply 19-19-19 fertilizer lightly to most of the fruit trees and the grass that surrounds them. I figure that if the grass is growing well enough to kill all of the moss under the fruit trees, then the soil should be fertile enough for the fruit trees. Anyway, lack of sweetness is not a problem for any of my fruits, including the plums. The Italian Prune plums on the same tree are very sweet, and the Beauty and Shiro plums are sweet enough when they are fully ripe; however, by then they are too watery and not tart enough, making them bland to my taste.
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