Wild Plum Harvest
- William Wilson
Bill and Becky had an unexpected wild harvest in their backyard from a native plant, the American Wild Plum. A little tree appeared in Bill and Becky’s backyard corner bed about 10-years ago. Bill was about to pull it out when Becky approached. Since neither of them recognize it at the time, Becky suggested that they let it grow another year to see what became of it. Thank goodness they did.
This American Wild Plum tree, probably planted by a squirrel, is about 12′ in diameter and bears almost every year. Fortunately, most of the plums ripen in a 1-week window and just drop to the ground when fully ripe.
All we need to do is drape some tarps during this period and gather up the harvest. We use lawn chairs to clamp the far side of the tarps to create a bowl shape for the plums to fall into. A small rock on the tarp creates a low spot that the plums naturally roll to for super-easy harvesting.
After washing and a bit of sorting, we fill the steam juicer with as many plums as we can fit. The lid does not even close all the way at first.
Once the water in the bottom begins to boil, steam rises up into the plums. As this heat increases, the cell walls of the plum begin to break down and the juice within is released into a holding chamber separate from the water bath. And one can juice most all berries and fruit such as mulberry, elderberry, strawberries, apples, pears and more.
The juice is beautiful and to us, tastes a bit like cranberry juice. It is very rich is flavor but tart. Many people add some sugar, but a shot of apple or grape juice does the same thing.
Bill and Becky will freeze the majority of the plums in freezer bags and wait until cool weather to do most of the steaming. They’ll use the excess heat in the kitchen to help heat the house on cold fall days. In the meantime, we froze the bulk of the harvest on trays and rolled them into 7, two-gallon ziploc bags. They are now in the freezer for winter consumption.
We also grabbed 4-quart jars, filled them with plums, followed by vodka. The sugars, flavors and minerals seep into the liquor for an amazing winter sip. Even after just 1-week, we could taste the holiday joy. 🙂
One final point, wild plums are considered a super-food. Here is an article that explains their nutritional value. But these plums could possibly be even more nutritious than industrial grown plums because of the rock dusts (with 90+ trace minerals) that Bill spread on the soil 12-years ago. Most soils barely contain 20-trace minerals. The juice from these plums will not only nourish our bodies but might possibly help heal them as well. It’s a magic elixir for the winter months!
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