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Produce of My Estates: Plum Experiments
This year saw a bumper plum crop, mostly due to the timing and extent of the winter rains. (Lot of water means more fruit, but only if there's warming and a lack of storms during pollination time.) My standard method for consuming plums is to eat as many as I can fresh and turn the rest into frozen plum puree. (This gets mixed with yogurt for breakfasts during the rest of the year.) But I figured I'd try some other methods of preservation just for variety.
Dried plums - I have a forced-air food drier that sees useful duty when it's apple time. I have one of those spiral peeler-corer-slicer machines --thanks Randy! -- that makes the job simple. The apple slices dry in 24 hours, so during apple season I can get a lot processed with a one-hour session every evening. The plums, however, were not that efficient. If I had an efficient way of slicing them in half and pitting them, I might have been able to process a batch every day. But the variety I grow have very embedded pits and it would have been too messy. So they went in the drier whole which meant the moisture had to be drawn out through the skin. I finally judged them storage-safe after a week and a half. They're very tasty -- tart and flavorful -- though with a high pit-to-flesh ratio. They'll make a good "my mouth is bored" snack since it takes a while to work all the flesh off the pit. But this is not an efficient way of processing the crop. I might be able to get in at most three batches in the drier if I remember to start running it at the beginning of plum season. Worth doing again for the variety (especially since there's nothing else that needs the drier at that time of year).
Umeboshi -- And yes, I know that the "plums" used for proper umeboshi are actually more closely related to apricots than plums. But plums are what I had. I only did a test batch this year since I had no idea whether I'd like the result. I filled a quart mason jar with reasonably firm but ripe plums (these are the cherry-sized ones from my "ornamental" red-leaf tree), layered with salt at slightly less than 10% the weight of the plums. I probably could have used less because even as the moisture was drawn out of the plums, I always had undissolved salt present. I gently rotated the jar a couple times I day for about three weeks (the period recommended in the recipe I found). Today I removed them and placed them in the air dryer at the lowest setting and will check regularly until they seem to have dried enough that I'm not worried about them spoiling. The recipe indicates that they can be stored at room temperature in sealed bags and I'll probably try that with this test batch, though I worry that the summer heat in Concord may have different effects. I haven't tasted one yet, obviously. I should probably try a commercial umeboshi to have a sense of what I'm comparing to. The recipe also says you can strain the remaining brine for use as a seasoning. I tasted my fingers after transferring the plums to the dryer and mostly what I tasted was a saturated brine. But we'll see. If I were processing more than one jar, that's a lot of salt to use and a lot of brine to have left over, so it would make sense to find some additional use for it.
The tomatoes are coming in at a rate that I can keep up with for lunches currently. I hope I don't miss the best part of the season while I'm in Ireland but I'll have a house-sitter to take up the slack. I probably won't have enough tomatoes to have to preserve any, which is usually the case, but only because I eat them in such large quantities fresh!
After that, it'll be time to keep an eye of the apples, which are also having a bumper crop this year. Since they're still green when ripe, I need to look sharp to figure out when to start processing. The variety from my established tree is rather boring as eating apples, so they all get turned into sauce and dried slices. But I have several pre-1600 varieties starting to produce in experimental amounts. And the multi-variant graft that's supposed to be espaliered to the west wall of the house has maybe a dozen fruits this year, so there's that as well. The similarly espaliered multi-graft pear hasn't started bearing seriously yet but I can be patient.
I've been thinking of trying some new techniques with the small lemons in the backyard. (Since it bears year-round, mostly I just use them fresh, or occasionally slice-and-freeze to use in drinks.) Anyone have a favorite preservation recipe for small lemons? (Other than marmelade and candied peel, which I already do.)
Dried plums - I have a forced-air food drier that sees useful duty when it's apple time. I have one of those spiral peeler-corer-slicer machines --thanks Randy! -- that makes the job simple. The apple slices dry in 24 hours, so during apple season I can get a lot processed with a one-hour session every evening. The plums, however, were not that efficient. If I had an efficient way of slicing them in half and pitting them, I might have been able to process a batch every day. But the variety I grow have very embedded pits and it would have been too messy. So they went in the drier whole which meant the moisture had to be drawn out through the skin. I finally judged them storage-safe after a week and a half. They're very tasty -- tart and flavorful -- though with a high pit-to-flesh ratio. They'll make a good "my mouth is bored" snack since it takes a while to work all the flesh off the pit. But this is not an efficient way of processing the crop. I might be able to get in at most three batches in the drier if I remember to start running it at the beginning of plum season. Worth doing again for the variety (especially since there's nothing else that needs the drier at that time of year).
Umeboshi -- And yes, I know that the "plums" used for proper umeboshi are actually more closely related to apricots than plums. But plums are what I had. I only did a test batch this year since I had no idea whether I'd like the result. I filled a quart mason jar with reasonably firm but ripe plums (these are the cherry-sized ones from my "ornamental" red-leaf tree), layered with salt at slightly less than 10% the weight of the plums. I probably could have used less because even as the moisture was drawn out of the plums, I always had undissolved salt present. I gently rotated the jar a couple times I day for about three weeks (the period recommended in the recipe I found). Today I removed them and placed them in the air dryer at the lowest setting and will check regularly until they seem to have dried enough that I'm not worried about them spoiling. The recipe indicates that they can be stored at room temperature in sealed bags and I'll probably try that with this test batch, though I worry that the summer heat in Concord may have different effects. I haven't tasted one yet, obviously. I should probably try a commercial umeboshi to have a sense of what I'm comparing to. The recipe also says you can strain the remaining brine for use as a seasoning. I tasted my fingers after transferring the plums to the dryer and mostly what I tasted was a saturated brine. But we'll see. If I were processing more than one jar, that's a lot of salt to use and a lot of brine to have left over, so it would make sense to find some additional use for it.
The tomatoes are coming in at a rate that I can keep up with for lunches currently. I hope I don't miss the best part of the season while I'm in Ireland but I'll have a house-sitter to take up the slack. I probably won't have enough tomatoes to have to preserve any, which is usually the case, but only because I eat them in such large quantities fresh!
After that, it'll be time to keep an eye of the apples, which are also having a bumper crop this year. Since they're still green when ripe, I need to look sharp to figure out when to start processing. The variety from my established tree is rather boring as eating apples, so they all get turned into sauce and dried slices. But I have several pre-1600 varieties starting to produce in experimental amounts. And the multi-variant graft that's supposed to be espaliered to the west wall of the house has maybe a dozen fruits this year, so there's that as well. The similarly espaliered multi-graft pear hasn't started bearing seriously yet but I can be patient.
I've been thinking of trying some new techniques with the small lemons in the backyard. (Since it bears year-round, mostly I just use them fresh, or occasionally slice-and-freeze to use in drinks.) Anyone have a favorite preservation recipe for small lemons? (Other than marmelade and candied peel, which I already do.)
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Method:
Wash and quarter lemons. Pack into a large mason jar, layering with plenty of salt and flavorings. I usually use a broken cinnamon stick, some cloves, a bay leaf, and peppercorns.
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For the lemons, you could try limoncello if you like it, or canning lemon curd.
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I definitely noticed way less plums the year we had a hailstorm while the trees were blossoming....
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I'll probably need to start attacking the apples in September. I also need to consume this stuff on a more regular schedule! I have an inventory list on the freezer door with dates for when it was put up. It helps me pull things on a first-in/first-out basis but also reminds me that I've got some really old tomato sauce in there.
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