Plum Butter - Fruit Trees - New Garden

It is 71 degrees this morning; another hot day promised and , as always, a chance of pop-up thunderstorms.

New Garden

I finished trimming the fence row yesterday morning very early. I then set the sprinkler for the end furthest away from the hydrant. I had to add another hose to reach. I don't think the sprinkler had watered that area very good last time.

Fruit Trees

I had tried to spray the trees a few days ago and couldn't get the sprayer to work. It is a 15-gallon, battery operated type that can reach to the tops of all the fruit trees. DH put a new motor on it, but still it just worked intermittently. It was a slow job, but I got it all done. I used all the spray so it would be light enough I could get it out of the garden cart. I need the cart to pick up debris I had let lay from cleaning a couple of flower beds. I may need to buy a second cart! This one seems to always have to be unloaded before doing something else.

While at the plum tree, I picked the ripe ones, maybe ten or 12. They are a small, very dark red plum, not freestone.

Fireblight is still taking its toll on the pear trees and some apples.

I think this peach tree is a Red Haven. It is just beginning to give a little to a firm touch. I won't spray it anymore.

From Fruit

Food

I decided to cook the plums and make a jam or buttery type thing with them. I don't think I have ever processed anything with a cling pit. I put them in a pot with just enough water to keep them from sticking, mashed them with the potato masher and turned to stove on low. When they got really soft and some seeds were showing, I poured them into the Foley food mill and let them drain until they were cool enough to pick out the seeds. There may be a better way to do this; if anyone knows about it, let me know please.

I ran the remaining pulp through the mill and poured it back into the cooking pot along with about the same amount of sugar and just cooked until it was thick. The consistency is more like a butter than a jam but it is very tasty with a little tartness.



Flowers

Yellows are the dominant color in the beds right now, followed by blues in several shades. My rudbeckias have all crossed and recrossed and are now just doubles, semi-doubles and a very few singles. I love them all.