9lbs of wild plums in the fridge to finish ripening.

The tree happens to be RIGHT next the creek which made setting up the ladder a touch precarious due to the proximity of the legs o the edge of the creek. This did not stop me and only made me more happy that I had turned my ladder into an orchard ladder today. With a 10 ft tall a-frame ladder it made the task of harvesting the plums a LOT easier than prior years.

creek ladder.jpg

The tree was loaded down with a healthy number of plums and it was an enjoyable endeavour. The plums are an off white/green color which makes them somewhat easy to see against the darker green of the leaves.

Some of hte bunches held 3 or 4 plums next to eachother, but the majority of the trees had singular plums spaced along the branches. At 15+ feet above the ground they actually proved to have little damage from bugs or other causes. This makes them a lot easier to store as I don't have to worry about the prliferation of worms scurrying around the plums.

You wouldn;t know the plum trees are there unless you hike into the brush and look into the canopy. It helps I have an eye for such things now but it still took a few years of living on the property before I found the full extent of the green/yellow plums. The ladder works PERFECTLY!!!!! It is super stable even with me on the top steps of it with the bulk of my mass a few feet above the steps.

The wild plums on the property are not the standard large plum. These are small, but damn are they tasty. You can see how many fit in my hand. It is a lot of work for them but it is so totally worth it for the flavor.

The color is green all the way through yet it is sweet and a tiny bit tart. At full ripeness they are yellow all hte way through. I find them to be easiest to deal with/process when they are on the early side of ripe as opposed to the late side. 9 lbs are in the cooler so now it is just waiting for them to ripen a few days then processing them. Most likely they will be split in half to remove the seed and then bagged fpr freezing. A batch of pure plum jam may be in the works as well. we will see how much ambition I have.