If you are shipping, there are many volunteers that will take them!

If you have access to a large solar dehydrator, drying them is probably the easiest method of preservation. If might be worth your while to build one if your plums are going to start producing well for you.

You can make preserves out of them; there are numerous recipes on the internet but that all basically involve fruit, sugar and a bit of water -- then cook them down and fill the jars with the syrupy mixture. You'll need to skin them (a few minutes in boiling water). I suspect a recipe for peach preserves would be a perfect match for plums.

Other options for canning: chutney, chinese plum sauce, sweet and sour preserves and jelly.

They can be lacto-fermented and even preserved in vinegar. Both methods are an acquired taste (I've never tried them with plums) but if they sound interesting you I can type of recipes I have. They do require patience.

And if you want a new hobby (and have plenty of patience), you could make wine or brandy out of them, or officer's liquor -- which is very fattening but doesn't require any special equipment, just a big stoneware crock.

Wow, lots of great ideas. I think I'll go with the dehydrator, since time is short and that seems the simplest. I don't have time to build a solar one (I didn't even know you could!), but I'll look into that for the future. I'll try to pick up an electric one tomorrow, for the immediate problem.

I was caught unprepared because who knew I'd get this many plums? I had fig trees, too, and blackberry bushes, but I'd never had so many fruit that I couldn't eat all of what the birds left.

I like the idea of the dehydrating, as well as preserves, for the future.

Thanks so much. I appreciate it.

You're welcome.

The best plan I have seen for a solar dehydrator is a box with a door (an old cabinet with work) on legs. Make slots for racks, then drill a chimney and top the chimney with a vented roof. Being able to control the venting of a the chimney would be a big plus, otherwise you may cook your food on really hot days instead of drying it.

On the front underneath where the door is, build a solar collector like this:
http://www.jrwhipple.com/sr/solheater.html

...and where it says hot air, that could vent into the bottom of your dehydrator.

Of course, if it's arid where you are, all you really need are some stackable ranks you can hang from a tree or set on a table outside, then cover with netting to keep the bugs out. I have a big screened in porch, so I just have racks I can stack.

In my family, what we have done when we have a lot of plums, besides eating them fresh, is to can them and make jam. I prefer canning, because it makes the best and easy dessert. Just add whipped cream or cool whip to the canned plums. Mmmmm.

Hilde

Sooo - your going to buy a dehydrator? LOL. Come on over to the Harvest Forum - cuz, I suspect that plum tree of yours is going to produce for years to come. It also sounds like your one of those frugal people, who won't let anything go to waste either. (just aske me how I know).

Anyway, I just finished making a neat plum dipping sauce. Of course, I used pluots (a relative of the plum - no doubt), and it will be used for dipping those nice little wonton wrappers filled with chopped veggies, and deep fat fried - THEN comes the dipping sauce. Truly gourmet.

If you haven't bought a dehydrator yet, it is possible to dry them simply in a slow oven with the door propped slightly open, so as to let moisture escape - careful not to cook tho.

As other posts suggest, wine would be an option (that is if you want to get into harvesting/frugal/not wasting/routine a bit more) - but also the plum jams are great (still have some left from 05 or so).

I made a really "cool" plum frosting/filling for one of those boxed chocolate cakes the other day. Son even said it was great, even though he is getting a bit suspicious about plum stuff by now. He didn't suspect the plum dump cake I made last month either.

Well - whatever you decide, enjoy - and I do hope you enjoy plums, because they will provide the whole neighborhood now, even the birds.

Just my 2 c's

Bejay

bpollen:

First of all, let's clear up one thing: A plum tree with limbs that are so heavily laden that they bend down to the ground is not neccessarily a good thing. Next time you get a heavy fruit set as you did this season, do a little thinning, removing at least every other plum, and more than that if they are still very close together. You will get less plums numerically, but they will be larger and of better quality. Also, you will reduce the risk of limb breakage from overload and there will be less of a tendency of the tree to go into a "boom and bust" cycle of production, with loads of plums one year and none the next.

Secondly, preparation of jam, preserves, etc. is pretty labor intensive, and you say you do not like to cook. This kind of preservation is essentially cooking. Drying is a good alternative, but if you want to dry very juicy fruits like plums you need a high quality cabinet dryer like the Excalibur, which costs about $200. The cheap, $60 or so dryers without forced air circulation will not do the job, especially in a location with high ambient humidity. It is much easier to dry fruits in dryers or even in the sun in locations like California where ambient humidity is consistently low. But you are in Houston, where people take off their t-shirts and wring them out in the summer.

Finally, you asked about freezing. If you have the freezer space (and I mean a deepfreeze, not the freezer compartment of a self-defrosing refrigerator), it is very efficient and practical to freeze large quantities of plums in quart ziplock bags. Plums should be pitted, as much to discover if there is a plum worm inside as to get rid of the pits, then heated to boiling with a little sugar (for preservation) in a large pot. After cooldown, they may be shoveled directly into the bags and placed in the freezer, where they will keep with good quality for up to two years. Make sure you get all the air out of the bags before sealing the zipper.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

"The cheap, $60 or so dryers without forced air circulation will not do the job"

Yes, they are essentially hair dryers with a cap; they either cook it or don't dry it, and are noisy. Not worth the money, IMO. There's a reason why so many end up in thrift stores.

Thanks to everyone for the additional tips. Well, if the cheap dehydrators are a waste of money, I won't go that route. I don't want to spend $200 on something I may not get enough use out of. I think now I'll do the freezing "as is," per jellyman's tip. That sounds simple. But jellyman, you said preserving or making jam takes a long time....the recipes I have for blackberry and strawberry preserves seems pretty simple and not that time consuming. Still, freezing "as is" sounds best.

Jellyman....re the branches hanging under the weight of the fruit....yes, one branch even broke. I'll watch that next year. I've been busy and wasn't paying attention...and the tree has never produced much before, so I was caught unprepared. This is my first plum tree. We've had an unusually rainy season, so I'm wondering if that's the reason for the huge crop. Any why the birds have stayed away, I don't know. Maybe the rain has kept their activity down, as well, or maybe there's other fruit in my area they're flocking to. Or...could be that stray dog I found...she likes to chase birds when they're on the ground.

Anyway, thanks to all of you for your tips. Of all the problems to have, this is a good one (for a change)!

bpollen:

You have to define "long time". Putting up preserves is going to take longer than bringing the plums to heat and bagging them for freezing. I can't tell you exactly how much longer.

You might be able to find a good cabinet dryer cheaper on E-bay. I don't shop there, but lots of people do.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

We use to boil them down with sugar like you were making jelly and save the juice in 2 liter pop bottles in the freezer to make jelly or cobblers later.

Wash them well, cut them in half, remove the pit and put them cut side up on a cookie sheet. Put the cookie sheet in the freezer until they are frozen and THEN bag them up. This way they won't be frozen in one big hunk and you can take just a few out to make smoothies or plum sauce, etc. without thawing the whole bag.