Sunday, February 27, 2011

Summer Bounty

Last summer I discovered a wild plum tree growing in the edge of the woods in the back yard. I guess the reason we didn't notice it before was because it never had fruit on it. It seems that everything produced abundantly last spring and summer and this small scrubby looking tree did too. There were only a few plums that feel off daily, sometimes 3 or 4, sometimes 9 or 10. When I would walk the dogs, I always picked them up and put them in the freezer, until there were enough to work with.
Last Friday, I had the day off. I took them out of the freezer, rinsed them off, and poured them into a big pot and added about 2 cups of water. I cooked them gently until they were mush, about 20 minutes, I guess.
After pouring the pulp into a jelly bag and letting it drip, I eventually came up with this!

Plum  juice! I cooked it and did it ever smell good! Then poured it into my jars and
Wild Plum Jelly! 

3 comments:

Ruth said...

yumm!

magnoliasntea said...

Your wild plum jelly has gorgeous color! And good for you taking advantage of free wild fruit. I hope to try my hand at making redbud jelly as soon as the trees bloom. Have a great week!

Bluebird74 said...

Oh Sharon that's just beautiful jelly! Mom and me have just the thing to try it on!