Having seen the amount of blossom on the plum trees we always had a sneaking feeling that it was going to be a bumper crop from all five of the varieties this year, every tree is laden with fruit and now the inevitable has happened to a couple of the Victoria Plum trees. The weight of the unripe fruit has snapped major branches on two of the trees but hopefully the plums will still ripen because the branches haven't completely separated from the trees.
Meanwhile the two Jack Russell Terriers, Lucie and Barney have been photobombing the photographs.
How tasteful Lucie, thanks for the pose.
Hi John
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, the same thing happened to one my dad's plum trees a few years ago (also a Victoria) although he had to take the whole branch off before it damaged the trunk! He now religiously prunes back the trees (he also has an old American variety called Stanley) to reduce the amount of fruit the trees set in order to stop the plants being overloaded.
Enjoy the harvest......
Alistair
Alistair,
ReplyDeleteBelatedly the farmer has decided to do the same and have a tidy up. The Vice aren't ready yet but the Tsars are delicious and I eat too many... even the terriers eat them and spit the stones out.
All the best, John
Have you tried Japanese style pickled plums (umeboshi) with the excess? I tried them with my dad's stanley plums a few years ago when he had a glut. They were delicious and lasted months and months, but the salt was bad for my blood pressure (according to my wife an way!)
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteAlistair, I will get Sue to look them up, I've never heard of them but very intriguing. At the moment it's cucumber relish and cucumber and mint jelly to utilise that surplus. It's pouring down now, what a relief. All the best, John
What a splendid photobomb! We had a similar one with our BT a few years ago....ahem....before the big snip (says in hushed tones) - one of the nippers said "what's that bright pink thing in the picture?" - no shame! TTFN Dickie
ReplyDelete