Help: I'm dealing with hundreds of ripe plums

Last fall I moved into an apartment with a plum tree in the front yard. I don't know anything about plants or trees or fruit, and now that summer is here there are hundreds of plums dangling off this tree. They're attracting millions of ants, as well as raccoons, possums, rats, and a few bold humans who I've caught plucking from the tree.

I guess I like plums? But there's around a week left until they all fall to the ground and become a horrifying slurry, and I'd rather avoid that.

Any suggestions?

TLDR: Have plum tree, it's bursting with plums, no idea what to do in order to avoid ant apocalypse

Steinsprut,
@Steinsprut@szmer.info avatar

Pick them all, seed them and make a shitton of plum jam

tymon,

Having never made a jam or a jelly of any kind, I'm hesitant to try this, but it might be a good option. Do you have a favorite plum jam recipe?

alex,

Well the good news if that with the literal hundred plums you have, you can afford to "waste" plums until you figure out how to make proper jam! :)

barsoap,

Plums contain enough pectin to turn into jam with only sugar and maybe some lemon juice (for acidity) added, though if you're doing this the first time you probably want to add extra pectin. Over here that's generally done by buying sugar that's laden with pectin, in other places you buy the stuff without included sugar, I recommend to search for recipes on your local internet. If you have a plum tree in front of your window someone in your country will know how to turn supermarket ingredients into jam.

Gelatine in jam is, IMNSHO, a travesty. You're not making jello.

AnarchistArtificer,

What does IMNSHO mean? I'm guessing it's "In my [something something] honest/humble opinion, but I can't figure out what would go in those gaps

barsoap,

In my not so humble opinion. As in "IMNSHO, cream in carbonara is a hate crime" as opposed to "IMHO, Nutella and cheese is an underrated combination you should try it".

argentcorvid,
@argentcorvid@midwest.social avatar

Wine.

tymon,

Holy shit. This might be the winner

argentcorvid,
@argentcorvid@midwest.social avatar

It can be difficult to make it clear due to the pectins, but it doesn’t affect the flavor at all.

argentcorvid,
@argentcorvid@midwest.social avatar

It can be difficult to make it clear due to the pectins, but it doesn’t affect the flavor at all.

lvxferre,
@lvxferre@lemmy.ml avatar

I’d be making jelly or wine like there was no tomorrow. Plum wine in special is delicious.

There’s a recipe here, if you want; it works for fruits in general, not just grapes. Note: most equipment can be improvised with some redneck engineering, for example my water lock is simply a piece of flexible tube forced into a U shape with an old hair rubber band, and filled with water.

You could also share the plums with neighbours. Bonus points if you manage to barter them for something else.

Evkob,
@Evkob@lemmy.ca avatar

If you want to use them up, this website has a bunch of suggestions.

If you just want to get rid of them, why not encourage the bold humans who’ve been plucking? Put up a sign saying “Free plums!”, I bet it would be picked clean within a day or two.

Morovan,

I’ve heard horror stories of people who do this, like, cutting down branches and trampling yards

tymon,

It never even occurred to me to put a sign up advertising the bounty of the tree. This might be simplest. But on the off chance no one takes me up on that, I'll still have almost 300 plums. I'll check out that webzone, thanks

TheBananaKing,

Jam, seriously. Plum jam is amazing.

ccunix,

Plum jam

  • plums
  • sugar
  • heat

That is all

yads,

Pic of the tree so we know what we're dealing with?

brezhnervous,

Attract some parrots and you will rapidly have a garden full of drunk parrots lol

NoraReed,
@NoraReed@beehaw.org avatar

Local food not bombs groups might be able to use them, or at least direct you at someone who can.

Sorghum,

National center for home food preservation is a trusted resource for preserving food. All of their recipes are scientifically tested to ensure safety.

nchfp.uga.edu

There’s a bunch of plum stuff there, Google plum site:nchfp.uga.edu to get a list.

thawed_caveman,

a few bold humans who I’ve caught plucking from the tree

Let them. You're about to have more plums than you know what to do with, and yes leaving them there will get gross and attract all kinds of critters; you should encourage people to pick your plums, or pick them yourself and give them out. People are suggesting making jam and pies and such but that's a lot of additional work compared to just dumping them on your neighbors.

For picking plums, i recommend using a broomstick or curtain rod to shake each branch, all the plums fall, you pick them up. This should be done a few times a year.

MagpieRhymes,
@MagpieRhymes@lemmy.world avatar

You’ve already gotten advice on preserving, but what about sharing/donating the bounty?

Some cities have public portals where you can post the location of your fruit tree and indicate people can help themselves. There’s also this webpage. And failing that, you could reach out to a local foodbank - they may be able to have volunteers come collect the fruit?

Atarian,

Make lots of plum wine. I shit you not, it’s delicious.

And so is damson wine by the way.

mim,

Pálinka

vodnik,
@vodnik@lemmy.world avatar

We call it rakija

108beads,

You probably have food banks in your area which would be delighted to get some!

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