Plums
It seems it's that time of year, when everything starts to come ready. This is especially true with our plums. The tree is just groaning with fruit, much more than we can eat. So far the birds have been distracted by the small yellow ones that are no good for eating.
With fruit set on at least 5 of the edible plums it's looking to be a juicy season.
Freezing Plums
Due to the excess number of plums ripening at the same time, I decided to stew up several batches and then freeze them in plastic containers. It is helpful that we have such a large freezer because we will be able to stock it full of all our excess fruit and veggies from the summer.
To stew them up, I halved and pitted each plum and then filled a large pot. No water was required, as the plums are extra juicy. I let them simmer for about 20 minutes and then added about two tablespoon cornflour to thicken it at the end, as well as about a cup of brown sugar. The plums get very sour when they are cooked. I then transferred the stewed plums into plastic containers to be frozen for future use in winter plum crumbles.
Trading Plums
We still had an abundance of plums even after stewing and freezing them and baking a couple of crumbles. So we were able to share our plums with some neighbors. We were also able to do a bit of networking and trade some plums with people in the Kaikoura community. It is good to know that the plums are being enjoyed in several households.
