Finally, after a couple weeks of ripening in twos and fours, we are getting to pick Stanleys by the bowlful. The tree still has quite a load, c’mon and ripen up babies! 3-6" rain predicted for the next couple days is not ideal… I plan to use Mrs. G’s plum jam recipe with the ones I picked.
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Excellent! They are beautiful aren’t they? Bet they taste good too. They look ready!
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MrsG, I doubled your recipe, went with the lower amount of sugar and took it to 210 F- it came out great with a very nice consistency. We just shared some spoonfuls and yeah, it goes down real easy!
Major seasonal shift happening with a bunch of precipitaion and temp drop, fall is here and plum season is winding up. I am doing some fall planting from a nursery row to permanent spots and starting to work on a scionwood wishlist…suggestions always welcome!
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So glad you liked it. FYI I never double batches as sometimes the consistancy can change and be a bit too watery. Glad you like it! I have 16 half pints! Pretty great. Holidays are on the way! Its great on the side with turkey.
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Mrs G,
I’m coming to your house for Thanksgiving. Turkey with plum jelly? Erp!
Come on up Matt!
Last picking of Stanley yielded a nice bowlful of the best ones yet, very sweet, meaty, and rich. A nice thing that this log has allowed me to do is record ripening dates of my varieties, just shy of two months of fresh plum pickings here.
Since my collection had relatively few European plum varieties compared with Japanese/hybrids, I am planting out a few 2nd leaf trees I grafted on myrobalan.
Coe’s Golden Drop, Jefferson, Jubelium, Vilmitar, Golden Transparent, Edinburg, Victoria, Oullins are planned to go in at a 12’ spacing in two staggered rows. Another small run of trees are still sizing up in the nursery that I grafted it’s spring, and I am starting to think about what other varieties might be good choices to trial here, looking at some of the more recent european plum releases for better production, reliablity, disease resistance.
Thanks for joining me through the harvest, Jesse.
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If you are harvesting the last of your Stanleys now I doubt you can ripen Coe’s Golden Drop. Your plums look great, I wonder what the brix is.
Thanks Alan. I appreciate your input on the varietal choices very much, I certainly want these trees to have a chance of making ripe fruit! I figure that I can work the varieties over if they don’t pan out, as long as the wood is cold hardy.
Jefferson has been very vigorous for me in NE Ohio. I planted one three years ago, had near total die back after the first of two brutal winters, but it survived and put on nearly 7’ of growth that summer. After last year’s equally brutal winter it was perfectly fine and I got one fruit this summer. Very tasty. I planted two more this spring and they both put on quit a bit of strong growth as well. I have black knot problems and have only noticed one tiny 1/4" knot so far on any of the Jeffersons. Most of my other young Euros have much more, even a Kenmore had some.
Hi Jesse:
We’re fairly new to orcharding - just 3 years in now. We planted our apples, peaches and pears but now want to plant plums. I am looking for a Purple Heart, but missed the deadline for Fedco - it was earlier this month. Do you know of another source to purchase this plum? I’ve Googled it and can’t find any. You seem to be growing some trees - do you have one for sale? I’m in Maine, too.
Thank you for any advice.
Maureen
Hi Maureen,
Scions of Purple Heart are sometimes available for purchase from Bob Purvis or Singing Tree.
Search for the discussion thread on Scionwood Sources.
Thank you, Matt. I’ll Google him and Singing Tree to see if any are available. What’s your favorite plum?
In terms of a plum that grows well here AND tastes good-- Methley stands above all others so tall. It is THE plum in my county. Methley ripens fairly early, and is sweet and juicy. Some people don’t like juice-bomb plums (some rather a gummy plum), but I prefer the juicy ones like Methley.
But I have lots more experimenting to do…
In the humid East-- it is much harder to grow the fancier plums such as those grown in California. Other plums have superior taste, such as Santa Rosa or Tropical Plumana, but they’re not as reliable as Methley where I am.
Methley’s weakness is Black Knot, but often that can just be pruned out.
Thank you for the feedback. Have you tried the French antique plums? Mirabelle 1790’s? I just ordered one and the Mirabelle from 1800. Also a true Green Gage. Do you have these? Have you tasted the fruit?
M
PS I emailed to the first gentlemsn you mentioned about the Purple Heart and am going to write to the other as they don’t do email.
I have Mirabelle de Nancy grafted into my z6b orchard tucked away on an east-facing slope in the Catoctin Mountains. Nancy is supposed to be one of the sweetest mirabelles. No fruit yet.
I have other Euro plums, too, including Bavay Gage, Coe’s Golden Drop, and the Pearl gage/prune hybrid. Still no fruit on those.
In humid climates, Euro plums are especially prone to summer fungal rots, with the later-season ripeners perhaps being the exception, as @scottfsmith has reported in Baltimore with Golden Transparent Gage.
Nevertheless @mrsg47 has had some success fruiting mirabelles at her property in Newport, Rhode Island.
The late-season ripening Euro plums intrigue me. I like the idea of getting plums as late as September… or even October.
I have no idea how these would perform in Maine. The true strain of the original Green Gage is supposed to be super cold hardy. Cummins Nursery occasionally sells this as “Old Greengage.”
Hi Jesse:
Thank you for responding and so nice to meet another Maine orchard enthusiast! It appears that someone has a 36" PH for me to buy, but do you have the Fameuse apple and could you graft onto a semi-dwarf stock? Do you have access to the Sweet-Meat crabs? Specifically Wickson, Muscat De Venus and Eden Crab? Do you graft these and also on semi-dwarf stock?
If the PH that I am looking at to buy is not on semi-dwarf stock are you able to bench graft one for me on SD?
I didn’t know how to open your PM to me. Still trying to figure that out. Sorry to be such a dunce, but I’m brand new to this forum.
Best,
M
Matt:
How old are your Mirabelles and your Gages? I just ordered the Mirabelle de Nancy and the original Green Gage. Do you also have any experience with the Sweet-Meat crabs?
Very nice of you to take the time to respond to this novice.
Maureen