One thing we haven’t told you about us is that we love plums. If we were to have (a lot) more land, we’d plant an entire plum orchard, which would include all of our favourite varieties. But, since this is the real world and we’ve only got little space, the plum orchard remains just a dream.
However, even if we don’t own a plum tree ourselves, our side-garden neighbour does. Not only that, but he’d had the inspiration to plant it very close to the fence, so that half of the branches hang over our side. Apparently, the man who lived here before us used to complain about the mess that the plums made when they fell off the tree. Given our love of these fruits and overall tendency to forage for anything that is edible, we find that behaviour and level of waste hard to comprehend.
Therefore, from day one, we made a deal with our neighbour. He lets us pick our share of the crop, and we don’t mutilate the tree by chopping its branches off. Which would be a silly thing to do, since that’s where the plums live until they’re ready to transfer to our kitchen.
Two years ago, the few branches hanging over our garden provided us with enough fruit to eat for a month and make jam for a year. Last year, to our disappointment, the tree hardly made any fruit. Apparently, plum trees tend to take a year’s rest in between two ‘rich’ years, so we’re hopeful for this season.
The signs are there. After an abundant display of white blossom in early spring, the tree is now heavily pregnant with little green gems. Although still small, they’re all perfect in shape and colour, holding the promise of family jam-making evenings in our cosy kitchen in the autumn.
We’ve got a wonderful recipe for plum jam that we can’t wait to put to good use in a few months’ time. We’re planning to share it with the world when and as we’re making our sweet, amber-coloured delight.
