[MN Mom]

We noticed yesterday that 2 trees down by the low land has fruit on them.

The fruit on one tree is a little bigger then a quarter and has a verticle seam in it like a plum. The skin is a pink/red color and the inside is orange. Smell like a nectarine. they have a large single seed inside that takes up about half of the fruit. Wild plums???? Picture Sorry it is not better.

The fruit on the other tree is a little smaller and looks like a big cherry. Skin is red and we have not cut one open yet. PICTURE

If you touch one of the branches the fruit falls off so they need to be picked if we can figure out what they are.

Bark on both trees look like it is peeling.

We are located in east central MN.

Thanks

 

[Lynne]

Look like plums to me.

 

[tinknal]

The first one is plum. Now is the season. Is the second one hard? Sounds like maybe flowering crab. If so it is an ornamental and pretty much useless.

 

[Windy in Kansas]

I agree that they appear to be plums.

Is the pit similar to an apricot? Is the pit in the one that smells like a nectarine shaped like a peach/nectarine pit? I'm betting that it is more like an apricot one which would be plum.

In the area I moved from and where I'm at now similar plums are called sandhill plums. Quite tart for fresh eating unless dead ripe. Otherwise they do make an excellent jam or jelly.

 

[junie]

They both look like plums to me, although it's kind of hard to tell about the second one. What is the texture of the fruit and how big?

 

[MN Mom]

Both are plums (found 2 more trees but fruit has fallen already). Got brave and cut them open and tasted them.

Flesh is tasty but skins are tart.

Picked about a gallon of both and plan on doing something with them this weekend.

thanks all

 

[ahahahni1]

This is a great thread! I was just wondering the same thing since I have noticed some wild plums on the side of our dirt road. Anyone got good recipes for wild plums?

 

[Topaz Farm]

Looks like wild plums to me. We just discovered that they are growing out here. But can't find any on our property. This fall going to try digging up a couple and try transplanting.

 

[Corky]

I would love to get my hands on some wild plums!

They make great jams and jellys too.

ornamental crab apples also make great jelly.

We had an ornamental plum tree at a bank I worked at and I made plum jam with them.
I shared it at the bank and told them where I got the plums.
Me and my big mouth! I never got another plum! DRATS!

 

[Merri]

We have lots of these wild plum trees around us to. The pulp is vey sweet, but there is not much of it, and the skin is very bitter/astringent. Any tips for making jam out of them without getting that astrigency into the pulp?

Wind In Her Hair~I wouldn't be surprised if you've got these same plum trees near you. Otherwise, your welcome to come pick all you want from my yard!!!!

MN Mom, make sure you go visit those trees in the spring when they are blooming~ they smell amazing.

 

[Corky]

The juice is mostly near the skin of the plum.

Trust me, when you cook them up you will not taste bitter.

Make dumplins with your wild fruit.

I grew up eating that stuff with fresh from the farm cream on it. YUM!!!

Grandma would boil the fruit and then run it through the ricer, add sugar and spices if she thought it needed it and then put it back into the pan and brought it to a boil and dropped dumplin dough into it. Put the lid on and lowered the fire and let it cook till the dumplins were done.

Add cream and .... like I said... YUM!

I told my DH I ate grape dumplins as a kid.
His eyes got really big. See.... he is from PA and dumplins to him are a whole nother thing. LOL!
He could just picture my poor little Grandmother wrapping each tiny grape in dough.
LOL!!!