02 July 2014

The plum pay-off

Our neighbors across the street, the ones who mainly live in Blois but spend weekends and summers down here in the country near Saint-Aignan, have always been generous about sharing their fruit harvest with us. One year they told us to go pick peaches on their property, and we came home with more than 20 lbs. of them. Another year it was quinces. Each time we made jam (or jelly).

And then there are the plums. They have several kinds, but the ones I like the best for making tarts, clafoutis, or jam are the little red ones. They ripen early — in July, not late August or in September — so they don't get lost in the fruit shuffle at the end of summer. I liked these little red plums so much that a few years ago I planted some pits saved from them and grew my own plum tree.

The shinier plums in the foreground came off the tree in our yard. These little plums are about the size of large cherries.
Plums, by the way, are prunes in French, and prunes are pruneaux.

The new tree turned out to be very different from the neighbors', but this year it is bearing similar fruit. I think its plums are a little more sour. They turn red a lot earlier than the originals. The tree is prettier, because its leaves are red, not green like the parent plant's. All in all, I'm happy with it. And I'm even happier when, as was the case yesterday, I can go over to the neighbors' and pick (gather, mostly, the ones on the ground) a quart or two of the sweet little plums in their yard as well as a few from ours.

Now the question is: a tart, a clafoutis, or jam? Probably not jam right now, because we have company coming and we're going to be busy. A clafoutis, I think. We'll see. Meanwhile, there are a lot more plums on the tree in our yard and they'll need to be picked, because we are expecting rain over the next few days. That might be today's work. Confiture next week — that's a distinct possibility.

11 comments:

  1. Can't wait to taste your plum jam next year!

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  2. I vote tart for plums, or just compote, served with a dab of riz au lait.

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    1. Stewed plums and rice pud.... ooooooooooooooooooooooo! Yum!!

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  3. Clafooty every time!!
    However, having seen Walt's pastry skills....
    a tart would be an equally good choice.
    And if yours are a touch more sour than the original tree...
    they'll be the best for jammin'...

    That little red plum across the way may well be the red mirabelle variety....
    not as commonly grown, but just as nice...
    and yours, being a bit sour had probably been pollinated by bees...
    that had visited one of the many wild varieties of prunelles that we have in this part of France.

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  4. It didn't take long for that plum pit to bear fruit! I vote for both jam and cake. We have good blackberries due to our wet spring. I've already made a cobbler and thinking about another for the 4th.

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    1. Evelyn, I had no idea how fast that tree would grow and how soon we'd get a good crop of little red prunes. I picked a good quantity again yesterday. They are very ripe.

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  5. I vote Tarte Amandine aux Prunes :)
    Wow, as Evelyn said, great job growing that plum tree!
    Looking forward to possible photos from whatever yummy plum treat(s) you end up preparing.

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    1. Judy, good idea. We'll see what we can do with all the plums. Something good, I'm sure.

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  6. You and Walt have certainly arranged to live in paradise! Whatever you make will be delectable!

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    1. A friend of ours used to say about life here, when she visited: "Well, another day in paradise!" It's not paradise, for sure, but at this time of year it's easy to think it might be.

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  7. now I am waiting for photo of the tart with plums.

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