Plums

Picked the plums off of ONE of my trees.  Lots and lots of plums.  All three trees are plum trees.  Who knew?!?  They are just different varieties.  So no apricots.  Or cherries.

Fruit Blossoms

The fruit trees are in bloom and covered with blossoms!

So far there are just apricot and plum blossoms, but the cherry is almost blooming and the apple trees will be right behind her.

I don't know why, but I think of the trees as girls.

I suppose, because they have fluffy blossoms and make fruit.

Pine trees and oaks, maples, ect. are boy trees......in my opinion.

Above apricot blossoms.

Below plum blossoms.

Last year I had 1 apricot and 4 plums.

I hope there will be more fruit this year.

Italian Plum Conserve

Italian plums are delicious, but they are only in season for a short period of time.

So go buy some right now!

Or use your own plums.

My 2 (yes, 2 - lazy trees!) plum trees produced a total of 4 ripe plums.

So........I had to buy a few plums.

Take 2 pounds/ 5 cups pitted plums.

Chop them if you want to, but I left mine in halves.

They looked too beautiful to chop up.

Add 1 whole orange and 1 whole lemon, ground up finely in a food processor.

3 cups sugar.

1 cup raisins or dried currants.

Combine all ingredients in a large saucepot.

Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

Optional: Soak your raisins/currants in 1/2 cup rum or juice.

I used a combination of rum and raspberry/guava juice (one of my mistake jellies)

Cook rapidly almost to the gelling point, about 15 minutes.

As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.

Ladle hot conserve into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.

Remove air bubbles.

Adjust two-piece caps.

Process 15 minutes in a boiling-water canner.