Plum Silly!

About this time every year, I get plum silly! I start glancing out the upstairs bathroom window to see if the plums on the plum tree are getting ripe. When Mr. Gerber’s little one-story house was next door, our plum tree, just our side of the property line, spread way over his picket fence and bore a hundred or more plums a year.

30 year-old plum tree sandwiched between houses

When they tore the house down in 2005, and put up the big two-story house next door, I begged the contractor to cut a notch of the 7′ fence to accommodate the tree, but he refused. Several limbs had to go, but, sandwiched between the two houses (there is 10′ feet from wall to wall), the tree is a survivor and struggles high to reach the light.

Kaye reaches out the upstairs bathroom window to pick plums

It doesn’t bear much fruit now, so I want to make sure I don’t lose any. Today I saw a few, so I thought I better get those down before they fall. Once they drop 10′-15′ and hit the gravel below, they are bug-free for about ten seconds. I went out to get the fruit picker, but, I guess we got a new one last year and I had to put it together. Next, I removed the window screen, and tried to reach the ripe ones on top, but it was the wrong angle.

Kaye reaches up from ground level to harvest plums

I had to finish the job from ground level. The bowl of plums, minus about five that fell on their side of the fence, was the total take. So lovely!

Today’s plum harvest!

There’s maybe that many more unripe ones left on the tree. I’ll leave these on the counter for a couple of days to soften up. Then, we’ll savor them.

Perfect plum ripeness to harvest

Now that I am a gardener, I will attempt to prune the tree correctly and give it some nutrition for a bountiful harvest next year. Do you get plum silly? What kind of fruit trees are you growing? If you enjoyed this post, please let me know and share with a friend. Thanks for your support! ~ Kaye

Update: 2013 & 2014 brought a good harvest, but 2015 was a bust! We pruned in late 2014, and are hoping the tree rebounds in 2016! Stay tuned!

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Tags: biodiversity, biodynamics, compost, do-it-yourself, farming on small scale, Fruit Trees, gardening, gardening web series, green your world, harvests, Kaye Kittrell, Kaye Kittrell Late Bloomer, Late Bloomer, organic, Photography, picking fruit, Plant photography, Plum Tree, Plums, urban gardening, web series

Category: Fruit, Harvest, Urban Gardening