As we push into March with stone fruit both peaches and nectarines can be unreliable, the end of the season brings dry fruit when it is picked too late or stored too long and of course we and all retailers try to avoid this fruit but demand stays strong so we continue to buy and invariably we end up with some not so good ones that sneak through. A far more satisfactory outcome for our customers are some of the fantastic Autumn plums available at this time of the year. A lot of people don’t eat plums and often the reason is that early in the season some of the plums are not so great often because they are picked too early and so not allowed to tree ripen as they should. In addition there are so many varieties over the season often changing weekly or fortnightly and people feel confused and so opt to buy none at all, March is when the best plums are in store. We have just finished Sugar plums which are the sweetest of all and are now enjoying Tegan blues (which will finish this week) and starting on the Angelino and October Sun varieties. Both these plums are fresh, juicy and in season. Soon we will have Autumn Giants and Flavourfalls but this week would be in my view one of the best weeks of the year to enjoy plums.
HOW TO PICK
Select plums that are smooth, plump, and fairly firm with colour according to their variety.
HOW TO STORE
Kept in the fridge when soft, they will last five days and lose none of their flavour.
