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Post by buckvelvet on Feb 7, 2017 21:06:16 GMT -6
Any of you grown them, whether for yourself or wildlife.
My experience in consuming plums is limited to a handful of ok 'ill try it moments' from diff stores.
To take a page out of Jim Gaffigans routine, "i've never eaten a plum and then afterwards thought, i'm glad i ate that!".
I dont know if its because they are not part of the Northern culture or what.
I like some stone fruits but i just dont get the plum thing, maybe ive never had a truly ripe one, idk...
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Plum
Feb 7, 2017 21:09:31 GMT -6
Post by smsmith on Feb 7, 2017 21:09:31 GMT -6
A good plum is pretty good eats to me. The skin on many varieties is pretty astringent, so I sometimes peel them.
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Post by buckvelvet on Feb 7, 2017 21:15:43 GMT -6
A good plum is pretty good eats to me. The skin on many varieties is pretty astringent, so I sometimes peel them. Hmm i wonder if the taste of the skin is what ruined it for me. I have a reliance & a red haven peach, i think id rather eat them any day over a plum though?
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Plum
Feb 7, 2017 21:16:28 GMT -6
Post by smsmith on Feb 7, 2017 21:16:28 GMT -6
Totally agree with peach over plum, no contest
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Post by buckvelvet on Feb 7, 2017 21:18:15 GMT -6
Thats my hangup with like box store trees. Im not grafting a plum cuz i have zero interest in doing so. Stores usually have santa rosa or mexican or some other but i have no idea if they are good or not.
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Post by smsmith on Feb 7, 2017 21:20:43 GMT -6
If I could grow peaches I might have more peach trees than apple or pear. I love peaches, fresh, canned, in pies....mmmm
Plums here are like apples, you really have to choose winter hardy varieties.
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Post by sd51555 on Feb 7, 2017 21:34:09 GMT -6
I've tried for 15 years to grow an american plum tree, and I've failed every way possible. I've found them wild, at my dad's, out here in glorious South Dakota and elsewhere. The flavor is amazing if you catch them at that perfect time where they are mushy, but still in tact. In my experience, that is a very narrow window. The best ones are not on a tree, but on the ground.
Mine have failed because pink egg looking bugs ate the trees, the trees kept getting mauled over by deer or wind, or they just "plum" didn't grow, like in the area my land is in now. If my secret stash outside the Lennox auction house would have produced this year, I'd have picked up ten gallons of rotten fruit and brought them up north and chucked them all over the place. But for some odd reason, they didn't bear at all this year.
I really need to connect with a plum jelly guy here and try to get my hands on their plum seed when they're done processing and add it to my shitpile project.
If you can grow them, I would. Once you have them, you just gotta learn how to eat them.
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Post by Catscratch on Feb 7, 2017 21:35:46 GMT -6
I love to eat a good plum but I haven't tried to grow them yet. I been told by nurseries that they are very difficult to grow here so I've yet to take that plunge. We have a native that grows in thickets called sandplum. I make good jelly and wine.
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Plum
Feb 7, 2017 21:41:32 GMT -6
Post by smsmith on Feb 7, 2017 21:41:32 GMT -6
SD - I'd be surprised if there aren't wild plums growing near your new place.
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Post by westbranch on Feb 7, 2017 21:56:36 GMT -6
I've tried for 15 years to grow an american plum tree, and I've failed every way possible. I've found them wild, at my dad's, out here in glorious South Dakota and elsewhere. The flavor is amazing if you catch them at that perfect time where they are mushy, but still in tact. In my experience, that is a very narrow window. The best ones are not on a tree, but on the ground. Mine have failed because pink egg looking bugs ate the trees, the trees kept getting mauled over by deer or wind, or they just "plum" didn't grow, like in the area my land is in now. If my secret stash outside the Lennox auction house would have produced this year, I'd have picked up ten gallons of rotten fruit and brought them up north and chucked them all over the place. But for some odd reason, they didn't bear at all this year. I really need to connect with a plum jelly guy here and try to get my hands on their plum seed when they're done processing and add it to my shitpile project. If you can grow them, I would. Once you have them, you just gotta learn how to eat them. I tried to germinate some after they went through the juice steaming process and I think it killed them. A few years ago I also sent some that were steamed and some that were unsteamed to other people (maybe buckvelvet?) and the reports back were that none of the steamed pits sprouted. I don't remember the count of how many jars of jelly we made this past fall, but we try to give away the crabapple and keep the plum. It seems like it would make good wine.
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Post by sd51555 on Feb 7, 2017 21:57:07 GMT -6
I'm hoping I can be up when blooming starts and get a decent head count for what's out there. I've saved back 6-7 days vacation that I'm going to split for spring and early summer.
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Plum
Feb 7, 2017 22:00:27 GMT -6
Post by sd51555 on Feb 7, 2017 22:00:27 GMT -6
I've tried for 15 years to grow an american plum tree, and I've failed every way possible. I've found them wild, at my dad's, out here in glorious South Dakota and elsewhere. The flavor is amazing if you catch them at that perfect time where they are mushy, but still in tact. In my experience, that is a very narrow window. The best ones are not on a tree, but on the ground. Mine have failed because pink egg looking bugs ate the trees, the trees kept getting mauled over by deer or wind, or they just "plum" didn't grow, like in the area my land is in now. If my secret stash outside the Lennox auction house would have produced this year, I'd have picked up ten gallons of rotten fruit and brought them up north and chucked them all over the place. But for some odd reason, they didn't bear at all this year. I really need to connect with a plum jelly guy here and try to get my hands on their plum seed when they're done processing and add it to my shitpile project. If you can grow them, I would. Once you have them, you just gotta learn how to eat them. I tried to germinate some after they went through the juice steaming process and I think it killed them. A few years ago I also sent some that were steamed and some that were unsteamed to other people (maybe buckvelvet?) and the reports back were that none of the steamed pits sprouted. I don't remember the count of how many jars of jelly we made this past fall, but we try to give away the crabapple and keep the plum. It seems like it would make good wine. Do you know if he cold stratified them? On the Sheffield site, they say some of those stone fruits need 120-150 days cold stratification to be able to break dormancy in the spring. If I got my hands on them in the fall right after harvest, I'd walk them right out in the woods, step them into the soil, and mow down all the brush on top of them and then wait and see. That's my best attempt at mimicking maw nature.
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Post by westbranch on Feb 7, 2017 22:04:02 GMT -6
Plums seem to start blooming shortly after service berries, when leaves on everything are hardly swelling buds. We have some plums that bloom early in a low area and I have never seen fruit on them, I assume due to frost pocket.
My main source of plums comes from a thicket at slightly higher up a hill, only has tons fruit every other year (evens). Hardly enough fruit on the odd years for a batch of jelly.
Also I have never seen ripe fruit on the service berries, it barely starts to ripen and then birds clean it up.
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Post by westbranch on Feb 7, 2017 22:08:00 GMT -6
I tried to germinate some after they went through the juice steaming process and I think it killed them. A few years ago I also sent some that were steamed and some that were unsteamed to other people (maybe buckvelvet?) and the reports back were that none of the steamed pits sprouted. I don't remember the count of how many jars of jelly we made this past fall, but we try to give away the crabapple and keep the plum. It seems like it would make good wine. Do you know if he cold stratified them? On the Sheffield site, they say some of those stone fruits need 120-150 days cold stratification to be able to break dormancy in the spring. If I got my hands on them in the fall right after harvest, I'd walk them right out in the woods, step them into the soil, and mow down all the brush on top of them and then wait and see. That's my best attempt at mimicking maw nature. Yes I believe they were cold stratified, I only got a few to go myself. One guy up in NWMN (possibly his user name too?) ended up having really high germination. I think direct planting them sounds the best as well, I just don't think it works to have them "processed" from the juicing. Just have to be driving around with a few 5 gallon buckets at the ready to collect a bunch out of fence rows or farm yards.
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Plum
Feb 7, 2017 22:24:25 GMT -6
Post by biglakebass on Feb 7, 2017 22:24:25 GMT -6
We have wild plums nearby,,,, well, I suppose they could be plums that were planted or tended back 75+ years ago. And they are simply incredible to eat when ripe.
I have about 50 american plums in tubes that I planted 3 years ago that are alive still. But man they sure havent done much in their tubes.
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