I have a wonderful little Italian plum/prune tree in my yard, and while out gathering them for drying (wash, slice in quarters, dehydrate - so easy) I noticed the my neighbor had little green fruits dropping off of a neglected tree in her yard across the fence. They were the same color as the leaves (and the grass below) and it appears she didn't even know they were there. Turns out they are lovely, sweet little Green Gage plums! I've gathered a big salad-bowl full of them. Have any of you ever made jam or other preserves with these? I've read they are an excellent dessert plum, but haven't worked with them before. Think I'll be trimming her tree back for her in the spring (plums get spring pruning) and next year more of it will be in reach.
I make lashings of greengage jam and it is a firm favourite with the family. I half the fruits and de-stone them then weigh and for every pound of fruit I use a pound of sugar. I cook the fruit very gently with no water stirring regularly, for about 30 minutes so the fruit is soft and tender and all the juice has run. Then I add the sugar and stir constantly until it has all dissolved. I then bring it up to a rolling boil and cook until setting point is reached on my jam thermometer. I then bottle in sterile, warm jars, seal and leave for a few months before gobbling it on warm crumpets! It sets wonderfully, a softer jam, but with a lovely greeny amber colour and a sweet plumy flavour. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
I have never had the jelly or jams, but a green gage plum is the best fruit I have ever had. Would you by any chance have any seeds you'd be willing to share?
Well, I certainly have a lot of plum-stones... would those work, or do you need a cutting, I wonder? I know I've had 'volunteer plum trees' come up from my other plum this way. Pm me your mailing addy if you'd like me to gather some into an envelope for you. One thing to realize is they may take a bit of patience... I think plums don't start putting out fruit for five years or so.
Just an update - thanks for the encouragement, the plum jam came out absolutely perfectly, and it was so easy to do! I'll definitely be looking to get more of these from my neighbor next year it she'll spare them - took some of the jam to her too. Now I am awash in grapes, juicing the concords and scratching my head over what to do with the annoying seeded green ones that don't make good juice. Being on a 'jam roll' I may see what sort of jam they make. Thanks again... Oh, and I did set aside some of the greengage stones if anyone would like some.
Take care when grwoing any plums from stones. 1. They do not always come true, depends on the bees! 2. They do have a nasty habit of growing into very big trees which can take a long time to produce any fruit. 3. Grown on their own roots like this, they do frequently produce a lot of suckers, ie. new shoots a long way from the tree.
The first house we lived in after we got married had 2 green gage trees in the yard. Being young and dumb I didn't appreciate them Our dog loved the plums, the bees loved the plums, the birds loved the plums... We have plum trees now, the italian prune type. They are good but can't compare to a green gage! Deanna :-D
