There is a guy nearby that has a little roadside stand of fruits and vegetable and I stop and get a few things from him weekly. When I pulled in today he had a little gleam in his eyes because he knew I liked plums. He directed me to the side where he had one type plum that was turning red and another type that was larger and in the stage of getting lighter. He wanted me to try the redder one because it was sweeter and he liked it best. Now I have eaten plums all my life and I was courteous and ate the riper one and told him it was pretty good but I wanted the other one to take home. Don’t get me wrong because I do like a ripe plum but to me they take on just a little more juice than I prefer and don’t have much firmness. We all have different taste preferences and was wondering when it comes to plums which ripeness do you prefer. Am I the only one out there that takes his plum a little on the green side? To me there are a few definite stages of plums.
Small to medium and bitter: PC love this size
Larger and getting lighter in color. Sour but not bitter: Perfect for me
Half ripe: Still good to me
Fully ripe: Somewhat good
It has been so long since I have eaten a plum I might not remember correctly but I like them some what ripe as I recall. They seem to have a little tartness that they loose when soft ripe. My father in law used to have a couple of trees in his yard that made small red plums. I really enjoyed eating them but really soft ones remind me a little of a mealy Apple, kind of like they have started to break down and rot.
A lot depends on the plum. They don’t all go soft and runny. I’m with you to some extent on those that do go runny. Not my favorite plum. I prefer the meaty type but more so prefer great taste. No way do I like most unripe plums, that’s Drew fruit.
Too much water before harvest can make some more runny.
I look forward to having my first plums dripping juice, almost but not quite over-ripe squishy. Still with a touch of sour near the skin or pit. Why? Because my plums are ripe before any of my peaches. That drippin’ juiciness is a forerunner to the best peaches, and adds to the anticipation. The texture and flavor aren’t the same, but the sweet and sour sticky juiciness shout, “Summertime!”
After those first drippy ones, I like them just a tad less ripened with some firmness remaining. I don’t think you could get me to eat an entire tasteless or plain sour crunchy one, though.
Interesting question! I also wonder about other’s preferences. The main reason I am growing plums (I didn’t get the chance to harvest any yet) is because I prefer them really ripe. Here, the only time of year we get fresh, ripe plums, is in august/september and the only varieties are some yellow plum on the tart side and toka (bubblegum). I do love ripe toka, but it’s very difficult to find! (fresh markets only)
I don’t know any properly ripened plum I’d describe as soft and runny. J. plums can be soft and explosively juicy, and this being the early season, those might be what’s available- say Shiro and Methely. However, the highest quality J.plums and all E. plums have some firmness even when fully ripe- E plums are syrupy- but even the best J. plums tend to have an extreme juiciness, but there is some firm texture along with that. If you want a J. plum that is completely firm but extremely sweet, grow something like Flavor Grenade.
As I’ve written many times, I hate that word pluot- having a few apricot genes in them doesn’t turn them into anything more than a firm plum, IMO. Combine the traits of both and you can call it a pluot. A ripe apricot is almost mush and is about as much like a pluot as a peach.
I finished picking Spring Satin yesterday, and I can now say
that I’ve eaten my first plumcot/pluot. For a first harvest from a
new tree, they’re quite good, but AU Rubrum, which is starting
to ripen now is much better. If all pluots are like SS, and I hope
they aren’t, I don’t understand all of the hype. Give me a Rubrum
any time. Now that’s a plum.
When are you going to invite me over sample them, Ray?
I’ve spent the last couple of months looking at my meager dozen plums and thinking about your trees loaded with plums and wondering when they would ripen. This should be a great year for you to sample and compare varieties. I know this opportunity has taken you several years of working and waiting. I’ve been excited for you that it looks like all of that effort going to pay off this year!
I like them sweet for fresh eating but also making preserves, because instead of adding pectin+sugar I can use kudzu powder with no sugar. Just another way I know I’m at that special age.
I like Beauty cooked, don’t care for it at all fresh. Maybe mine aren’t properly ripened, but I’ve had them at all of the stages available on my tree.
Yes sir, but you have to understand that first year plum wood
is not as thick as you like it. I’ll have to mix in some second
and maybe third year wood. Plums don’t grow like pears.
I will work with the 1-year wood you have. I grow much more vigorous trees here and sometimes have up to almost one inch one year wood. It comes in handy when doing splice grafts on the trunks of very young trees. Skinny wood just reduces my take percentage a bit and I don’t tend to get as vigorous growth the first season.
