I was on a bus in Geneva, Switzerland, when I saw a woman carrying home a fruit in her bags that I had never seen before. I asked her what they were. They were small and green. She replied that they were plums. I wondered why they were green, and so I asked if they were not ripe yet. She replied that they were indeed ripe–they were just a green variety of plum. I asked if they tasted any different from red or purple plums, and she said no, that they tasted the same, and were very good.
Years later, I planted a purple plum tree in my garden. It didn’t make it through the first year, and I found myself needing to replace it in my garden. The nursery carried many varieties of plums, but most required a second tree of a different variety as a pollinator. I only had room for one fruit tree, and they only carried 2 kind of self-fertile plum trees. One was the same kind that I had previously, and one was a Green Gage plum. I decided to change varities, and I planted the green plum, though I had never tasted them. I trusted the stranger’s recommendation that they were very good.
I’ve harvested them a few years now. We’ve eaten them raw. I’ve used them to make and can plum sauce. They are, indeed, very good.
There is another variety of plum, also less known in the U.S., that I had read about online, and for the last two years, someone has told me that they had an adundance of these plums, and graciously offered to share with my family. They are tiny golden mirabelle plums. Because of their size, they take a long time to cut, but their sweetness makes them well worth it. All of these varities ripen at the same time.
Having so many plums at once made me need to find a quick way to use them up. I decided to make plum popsicles. Just for fun, I also pulled out a bag of frozen sliced purple plums to make one more color of popsicles. If you have an abundance of plums, or find a great deal on them, you can always slice and freeze them to use later to toss in smoothies, or to make more popsicles later in the summer!
Makes approx. 8 popsicles
2 1/2 cups (600 ml) cut, pitted plums
3 Tbsp sugar
a splash (less than 1/8 tsp) of pure almond extract
Blend all ingredients together. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until solid (about 4 hours).
Notes: Be certain to use pure extract, as imitation extract may prevent your popsicles from freezing. I get my extract and my sugar from Sam’s Club. The green plums are from my garden.