I've lost all my plums!

According to the plant hardiness zones, the zone I live in falls within a range of 1a - 3a depending upon which zone map you follow.

Do you know how cold that is?

It is not uncommon for our winters to dip to -35^oC (-31^oF) before the windchill. Keeping a greenhouse going over the winter is just not cost effective, and there is no pleasure in gardening in that cold, so I don't!

We shouldn't normally plant in the ground until June, and harvest should be out by September. Calculate that and you have a growing season of a grand total of just over three months.

Pretty darned cold, and a short growing season to boot!

It's the climatic conditions which determines what you will be able to grow in your area. Something every homesteader must adhere too if they want to achieve success in growing.

Even taking into consideration micro-climates, it doesn’t leave much hope for growing a diverse variety of fruits, vegetables and plants here.

Sadly, I’ve lost so many fruit trees over the twenty plus years we have lived here… nevertheless, my motto:

Never give up without a fight!

...and so, I continue to try.

But let me talk about my plum trees.

I had two. One of which had been here before we moved in; it was well over 25 years old. The other I had planted within the last ten years, I can't really remember exactly.

They each took their turns bearing fruit every other year. It was rare for them to ever bear an extensive amount, but once in a while we could enjoy a handful or two of tiny sweet delicious fruit each year.

Plums, so tiny, so simple, so pretty. They ranged in size from three quarters of an inch to one and a half inches. And they were oh so sweet!

Sadly, our harsh winters and a couple of early winter storms have taken their toll and I finally had to break down and turn them into firewood this past year. That just breaks my heart!

On the bright side, from the last bountiful harvest, I was able to make plum compote, of which I still have several jars in the freezer to enjoy on biscuits with tea…. Yum!

Plum Compote: plums, lemon juice, and sugar

The recipe indicates to cut plums and remove the pits, total hogwash, I threw them all in the pot, skins, pits and all. My sister, a whiz at making jam and compotes, suggested I cook them whole and once cooked I could just pick out the pits and throw everything else in the blender. Genius! After sterilizing the jars, I filled them up, popped them into the canner for 10 minutes... voila, plum preserves. Compote is more of a runny type of jam to which I just use a spoon to layer it on to whatever I am eating… I much prefer it to the jelly-like texture of most jams. Best of all, it is so much more versatile than jam, because it is less sweet and the runny, chunky texture (if you don't pulverize it) allows you to not only use it on biscuits or toast, but it makes a perfect sauce for pouring over ice cream, cakes, cheese cakes, pancakes or waffles.

Did I mention delish?!

And so, I sit here on this cold and bitter night, cozied up to the fire, supping on tea and biscuits smothered in plum compote, mourning my plum trees, but delighting in the last of their delicious sweet remains and reminiscing on summers past harvesting the tiny fruits.

Have you ever tried making compote? …if not, you really should, you don’t know what you’re missing!

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