Plum tucker

I love the thought of harvesting my own fruit  - and as long as you realise that fruit trees often have ‘rest’ periods (occasional years where they produce small amounts of crops), then you’ll never be disappointed with your own fruit trees. This year one of my baby plum trees has produced a heavy crop of large sweet and very juicy plums …

Two of the plum trees have remained dormant this year and the remaining two a Greengage and a Damson have both produced a small crop.

For those of you who may either have never heard of the Greengage let alone had the joy of tasting one then I would say that you are missing the ambrosia of the soft fruit family. For when the skin has slightly softened and lightened just a shade in colour, the flesh becomes so succulent and sweet that it is quite the temptation of Eve in the fruit family. It is the one soft English fruit that will grow well in the most roughest of gardens and needs so little attention it could almost be wild if it wasn’t for the fact that the plums are larger than their wild cousins. Even in planting little care is needed – simply just dig a hole, deposit the tree root, press it in then gently pour on two gallons of water (one large bucketful).

My oldest plum tree, I use the term loosely as it is only about six years old and so therefore really still quite an infant in the life of a tree, was showered with beautiful white flower blossom in the early Spring. I was expecting at least a wheelbarrow full of fruit from its branches but as is often the case in nature my tree proved to be a comedian as it produced just one fruit this year. The fruit is enormous for a plum but I almost didn’t spot it at all as it was hidden at the back of one of its highest branches …

This solitary plum is not yet ready for eating as it is still very solid to the touch – I have to stand on a step ladder to reach it!