Wild storms, wild plums
Posted on August 14th, 2007 – 9:16 AMBy Robyn Dochterman
Wow! What a storm that was!
My rain gauge this morning says we got 4″ of rain last night. I won’t bother to say that I wish we’d gotten 1″ for the last 4 weeks, because I’m just happy to have rain, have power, and not have any major damage. Were you as lucky? Did you rush out and look at your garden this morning to see if everything survived? Any damage reports at your house?
Last night before the lightning show started, I walked around the yard and noticed there were plums on the ground. The fruit were on the huge old wild plum tree were ripe. I ran in the house and got my picking bag and then sat out under the tree and picked a whole bag of fruit. Today’s mission: Make wild plum jelly.
When the storm started, I knew I’d be back out there this morning, since the rain and wind would knock hundreds more plums off the tree. This morning’s walk confirmed that’s just what happened. So for the next hour or so, you know where to find me.
5 Responses to "Wild storms, wild plums"
Circle Pines plants are looking mighty sad. The leaves from the trees look more like an October carpet of leaves; only the leaves are bright green with more holes than swiss cheese! My hostas are goners. An army of slugs wouldn’t have done as much damage as the 3/4 inch hail. Oh well on the bright side we got 3 inches of rain!
My sister has been picking wild chokecherries for a couple of weeks in a secret wild spot. She says that it has been a bumper crop. My moms crabapple tree broke from the weight of all the fruit. They did not get any of the hail that Mary got but the deer are getting chubby from the fallout.
when is the best time to transplant perennials?
Sorry to hear about the hail, Mary. That’s very frustrating.
Deb, what does your sister do with the chokecherries?
Pat, I’m no master gardener, but generally, I believe it’s best to divide or transplant perennials after they have finished blooming. I’ll see what Connie has to say on the topic.
She makes a clear jelly out of that is similar in flavor to wild plum or red cherry (you need to add some apple or white grape juice to take the astringent qualities out). She is also combing the ditches by her house for elderberries that she makes jelly out of that is out of this world good.
Greengirls Connie Nelson, Robyn Dochterman and Jaime Chismar are dishin' the dirt from the backyard garden and beyond. Whether you're a greenthumb or greenhorn, they're eager to learn from your misshaps, mistakes -- and most importantly, your sweet successes -- all growing season long.
Need more Greengirls? Follow along on Twitter:
Subscribe to Greengirls
Learn more about RSS
Garden resources
Categories
- Apples, Plums + Tree fruits (18)
- Asparagus (3)
- Beans + Peas (9)
- Bees (12)
- Beets, Carrots + Root veggies (7)
- Berries (10)
- Books + Resources (13)
- Chickens (13)
- Compost (7)
- Container gardening (7)
- Corn (2)
- Critters + vermin (27)
- Cucumbers + Melons (15)
- Farmer's Markets (1)
- Flowers + Grasses (27)
- Garlic (5)
- Greens + Lettuces (10)
- Herbs (6)
- Lawn care (12)
- Mulch (7)
- Mystery plants (9)
- Potatoes (9)
- Preserving (7)
- Rain gardens (2)
- Seed starting (16)
- Soil care (4)
- Squashes + gourds (1)
- Succulents (2)
- Tomatoes, Peppers + Eggplant (38)
- Tools, gloves, rain barrels + more (17)
- Transplanting (1)
- Tree + shrub care (4)
- Uncategorized (164)
- Water gardens (3)
- Weather woes (25)
- Weeds (13)
- Weekend to-dos (11)