The property we live on came with a bunch of olive trees and some (to us) mystery trees that turned out to be plums of the teeny variety. I’ve had a very hard time figuring out just what type of plums these are (other than very small) – maybe one of you can help?

BEFORE!

I never gave much thought to plums other than the fact that they came in blue/purple and yellow/green. It turns out there are a great many varieties, from small to large, from early ripening to late. And like so many things in the botanical world, they have wonderful common names: Dennistons’ Superb Plum (it’s ‘reliable’); wouldn’t it be great to be superb and reliable at the same time?  There is the usual smattering of place-name names, mostly British: Warwickshire, Shropshire. My favorite, I guess, is the Blue Tit Plum (‘popular’ (I bet!) and ‘reliable’).*

But losing oneself in the world of plummy nomenclature doesn’t get one any closer to identifying one’s own plums. I never did sort out what we have, other than that they are some sort of very small, early, yellow plum.

AFTER!

In the end it doesn’t matter what they’re called. It’s enough for us to know they make delicious jam.

*Names of plums harvested here.