I have a tree in my backyard. Well, I have many trees in my backyard, eight to be exact. Three are pine trees, one is an apple tree that is just about dead and has next to no fruit on it, one a pear tree that doesn't fruit too much (Thank God), one has these red berries that the birds devoured this winter, one is a maple tree (errr...I think) and then there is the tree that is my topic of discussion today. It is very compact, thick and I mean thick, with twisted branches which made it sort of ugly in the winter time but very pretty with its leaves during spring, summer and fall.
For seven years this tree has puzzled me, I knew it had some sort of secret it was just waiting to share with me and then, as if by magic, this year it did. It first started this spring when one morning I woke up and it was blooming with tiny white flowers, something it has never done before.
Then this happened....
It started growing fruit. It was beautiful....
Plums, plums and more plums....
Remember those branches I mentioned. The many, many twisted branches. They are to hold the many, many, many, many, many, many plums that spring forth from this one compact tree in my backyard.
Then this happened.....
and continues to happen. I can't keep up.
There are too many. I am filling up two plastic Target bags a day with these purple, squishy, buggy suckers.
Dear Plum Tree in my backyard,
I now know your secret, tree, and although the discovery seemed miraculous and the plums on your branches are really quite beautiful, after seven years of doing nothing and providing not even a smidgeon of sustenance for us I am ready for you to go back to the way you were before this years big reveal.
Thank you,
The girl who hates picking up after you.
Ha! When you mentioned the other day that you were picking up plums, I remember thinking that I hadn't recalled a plum tree in your back yard before. Now I know why! lol Here's a tip for the future. Early in the spring, as the fruit starts to bud, you can pick them off early. Weed them down so to speak. We do it all the time to our fruit trees in CA and it makes for no mess in the spring. Yes, you still have to pick them, but it's better for the tree to not have all that weight and it makes for nice fruit that stays on the tree. AND...you can make plum preserves, plum pudding.....lol :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the great tip. I need something to stop this madness in the future. It is insane how many plums are still on it and falling off everyday. The other day I went out in the morning to pick them all up, and when I told Andy later that afternoon I had been out there, he said "You did?" There was already another bagful on the ground to pick up again. It is driving me bonkers!!!
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