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 is 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, however March is when the best plums are in season.
This week, we have many plums but to me the Western Australian Tegan Blues (they actually look black to me) are just sensational. We will have them for a few weeks. The October Suns from Ardmona Victoria are very sweet, the skin is yellow with a touch of red, we only see them for a couple of weeks and they have a very small stone. We also have blood plums from Cobram. Dark skinned with sugar spots. They must be eaten soft which means they are ripe. All plums are better eaten when soft.
We at Harris Farm know our plums – where to buy them and from which farms, and we don’t call them red or black plums, we tell you what they are and will give you some great options for the next month or so. I will recommend one or two plums each week, however this will be one of the best weeks of the year for plums.
HOW TO PICK
Select plums that are smooth, plump, and fairly firm with colour according to their variety.
HOW TO STORE
Keep out of the fridge until they are soft (for full flavour). Once soft you can keep in the fridge for days.
