Having finally picked the last of our estimated 75kg plums our plum tree is
looking a little unhappy, having snapped under the weight:

http://www.markettos.org.uk/ephemeral/IMG_1881.JPG
http://www.markettos.org.uk/ephemeral/IMG_1882.JPG

The snapped branch obviously needs to be removed. Is there any way I can
salvage the non-snapped parts, or should I cut it back to clean trunk wood
(losing more than half the tree)? I understand now is the best time to
avoid silverleaf.

Also, what success am I likely to have taking cuttings? I read rather
conflicting reports. I dug up a 3' high plum runner, losing most of the
roots in the process, potted it up and gave it away. It seems to be OK,
though only having leaves on the bottom foot. I think we might be out of
runners though.

Thanks
Theo

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...
Having finally picked the last of our estimated 75kg plums our plum tree
is
looking a little unhappy, having snapped under the weight:

The snapped branch obviously needs to be removed. Is there any way I can
salvage the non-snapped parts, or should I cut it back to clean trunk wood
(losing more than half the tree)? I understand now is the best time to
avoid silverleaf.

Ours did this too. Several branches snapped of and I've just cut them as
cleanly as I can and I'm hoping for the best. Branches get damaged for
various reasons in nature and trees have developed means of coping with it.
I don't know about silverleaf.




Also, what success am I likely to have taking cuttings? I read rather
conflicting reports. I dug up a 3' high plum runner, losing most of the
roots in the process, potted it up and gave it away. It seems to be OK,
though only having leaves on the bottom foot. I think we might be out of
runners though.


The problem with that is going to be the size. Or maybe not, I don't know
how big your garden is. But the fruit trees you buy are on dwarfing or
semi-dwarfing rootstocks, and cuttings will just do what they want.

Steve

"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...

Also, what success am I likely to have taking cuttings? I read rather
conflicting reports. I dug up a 3' high plum runner, losing most of the
roots in the process, potted it up and gave it away. It seems to be OK,
though only having leaves on the bottom foot. I think we might be out of
runners though.



The recipient of the plum runner may not get much joy.

Our plums put out loads of runners and I let a few grow for a while just to
see whay happened.
No sign of blossom.
Runners will be from the root stock which is picked for the control it
exercises over the fruiting part which is grafted on.
Best to get a commercial one unless you have loads of space.

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009, David WE Roberts wrote:


"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...

Also, what success am I likely to have taking cuttings? I read rather
conflicting reports. I dug up a 3' high plum runner, losing most of the
roots in the process, potted it up and gave it away. It seems to be OK,
though only having leaves on the bottom foot. I think we might be out of
runners though.

The recipient of the plum runner may not get much joy.

Our plums put out loads of runners and I let a few grow for a while
just to see whay happened.
No sign of blossom.

I did this a few years ago and now have quite a large tree. It produces
a very large number of small green but sweet plums each year, a little
like greengages. Not much character but well worth collecting. Obviously
it reflects the stock onto which the original plum tree in our
neighbour's garden was grafted.

Which leads me to say that we have a glut of plums here in Normandy.
No-one much likes plum jam and we can't sell them or give them away
because everyone has a glut. So what I'm doing at the moment is making
gallons - well, litres - of plum relish which one of my daughters nags
me for year after year. Apparently it goes well with spare ribs of pork.

If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll post it here.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Aug 2009, David WE Roberts wrote:


"Theo Markettos" wrote in message
...

Also, what success am I likely to have taking cuttings? I read rather
conflicting reports. I dug up a 3' high plum runner, losing most of the
roots in the process, potted it up and gave it away. It seems to be OK,
though only having leaves on the bottom foot. I think we might be out
of
runners though.

The recipient of the plum runner may not get much joy.

Our plums put out loads of runners and I let a few grow for a while just
to see whay happened.
No sign of blossom.

I did this a few years ago and now have quite a large tree. It produces a
very large number of small green but sweet plums each year, a little like
greengages. Not much character but well worth collecting. Obviously it
reflects the stock onto which the original plum tree in our neighbour's
garden was grafted.

Which leads me to say that we have a glut of plums here in Normandy.
No-one much likes plum jam and we can't sell them or give them away
because everyone has a glut. So what I'm doing at the moment is making
gallons - well, litres - of plum relish which one of my daughters nags me
for year after year. Apparently it goes well with spare ribs of pork.

If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll post it here.

Yes please

shazzbat wrote:

Ours did this too. Several branches snapped of and I've just cut them as
cleanly as I can and I'm hoping for the best. Branches get damaged for
various reasons in nature and trees have developed means of coping with it.
I don't know about silverleaf.

Indeed. But one of the ways nature copes is by dying. I'd rather not have
that happen given I don't have a plum orchard to replace it with, or 20
years to wait to grow another (if I can avoid it anyway, I know trees will
die at some point anyway).

The problem with that is going to be the size. Or maybe not, I don't know
how big your garden is. But the fruit trees you buy are on dwarfing or
semi-dwarfing rootstocks, and cuttings will just do what they want.

Not that big. It's mainly in case the tree really does die, or if I move I
can take the cutting with me.

Does poorly-fruiting rootstock thing applies to cherries too? I have some
of those also taken from runners. At least one of those (which came from
the tree and I didn't dig it up) is about 7 years old, 8' tall and fruiting
fine.

Theo

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009 00:30:33 +0100, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-08-22 18:20:55 +0100, David Rance
said:

I did this a few years ago and now have quite a large tree. It produces
a very large number of small green but sweet plums each year, a little
like greengages. Not much character but well worth collecting.
Obviously it reflects the stock onto which the original plum tree in
our neighbour's garden was grafted.

Which leads me to say that we have a glut of plums here in Normandy.
No-one much likes plum jam and we can't sell them or give them away
because everyone has a glut. So what I'm doing at the moment is making
gallons - well, litres - of plum relish which one of my daughters nags
me for year after year. Apparently it goes well with spare ribs of pork.

If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll post it here.

David

Hang on! What about Slivovitz??

Slivovitz, or Slivovice is distilled from quetsches.
This is not to say that other plums, apricots or other stone fruit
would not make an agreeable drink, but true slivovice it would not be.
:-)


Jiri B - "compost mentis" in North Staffs.

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
Hang on! What about Slivovitz??

You need a still) A friend in Bosnia used to make it. The still was
owned by the village and they all had a turn in using it

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009, Sacha wrote:

On 2009-08-22 18:20:55 +0100, David Rance
said:

Which leads me to say that we have a glut of plums here in Normandy.
No-one much likes plum jam and we can't sell them or give them away
because everyone has a glut. So what I'm doing at the moment is making
gallons - well, litres - of plum relish which one of my daughters nags
me for year after year. Apparently it goes well with spare ribs of pork.

If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll post it here.

Hang on! What about Slivovitz??

Or Zwetschen! Er yes, well, I did try something of the kind a couple of
years back but it wasn't very successful.

Probably safer to stick with plum relish!

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

On Sun, 23 Aug 2009, Ophelia wrote:

"Sacha" wrote in message
...

Hang on! What about Slivovitz??

You need a still) A friend in Bosnia used to make it. The still was
owned by the village and they all had a turn in using it

Here in Normandy each family used to make its own calvados. Then the
government brought in stricter laws so that one had to apply (and pay!)
for a licence but the only person allowed to continue distilling was the
then head of the family. As they died off so the supply of home-made
calvados began to dry up.

My neighbour here in Le Mesnil Villement had a friend who distilled
calvados and supplied us whenever we need more. I suspect it was not
entirely legal as we were never told who or where he was and the bottle
always came wrapped in an old newspaper. But the calvados was much, much
stronger than anything you can buy in the shops. There is a law that
states that spirits for sale for consumption must not be any stronger
than 70 degrees proof but this was even stronger than the old Polish
spirit which one used to be able to buy in half-bottles.

Not that the Normans drank it neat - that would have been impossible
unless one was a hopeless alcoholic - but they would put just a drop in
a cup of coffee to give it an aromatic flavour, which my wife loves, or
they would drink it as a "grog", a drop or two in a glass of hot water.
We used it for flambéing apple dumplings with crème fraîche.

Being so strong you didn't need so much and a bottle lasted much longer.
But Jules died about three years ago and so our supply of "local"
calvados dried up.

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

On Sat, 22 Aug 2009, Ophelia wrote:

Which leads me to say that we have a glut of plums here in Normandy.
No-one much likes plum jam and we can't sell them or give them away
because everyone has a glut. So what I'm doing at the moment is making
gallons - well, litres - of plum relish which one of my daughters nags me
for year after year. Apparently it goes well with spare ribs of pork.

If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll post it here.

Yes please

Ok, here you a

1 lb. plums
quarter pint vinegar
6 oz. soft brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 small onions
6 crushed peppercorns
1 chilli pod
3 cloves
half tsp. mixed spice


Bring slowly to the boil, cook gently for half an hour. Leave until
cold. Remove onions and sieve. Boil for a further five minutes and then
bottle.

That is the recipe as given to me several years ago but I have modified
it somewhat for our own taste. In particular I find it's necessary to
reduce it in the final boiling otherwise the consistency is too thin.
Also I liquidise before passing through a sieve.

Good luck!

David

--
David Rance
writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 22 Aug 2009, Ophelia wrote:

Which leads me to say that we have a glut of plums here in Normandy.
No-one much likes plum jam and we can't sell them or give them away
because everyone has a glut. So what I'm doing at the moment is making
gallons - well, litres - of plum relish which one of my daughters nags
me
for year after year. Apparently it goes well with spare ribs of pork.

If anyone is interested in the recipe I'll post it here.

Yes please

Ok, here you a

1 lb. plums
quarter pint vinegar
6 oz. soft brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
2 small onions
6 crushed peppercorns
1 chilli pod
3 cloves
half tsp. mixed spice


Bring slowly to the boil, cook gently for half an hour. Leave until cold.
Remove onions and sieve. Boil for a further five minutes and then bottle.

That is the recipe as given to me several years ago but I have modified it
somewhat for our own taste. In particular I find it's necessary to reduce
it in the final boiling otherwise the consistency is too thin. Also I
liquidise before passing through a sieve.

Good luck!

Thank you very much, David)

Theo Markettos wrote:
shazzbat wrote:

Ours did this too. Several branches snapped of and I've just cut them as
cleanly as I can and I'm hoping for the best. Branches get damaged for
various reasons in nature and trees have developed means of coping with
it. I don't know about silverleaf.

Indeed. But one of the ways nature copes is by dying. I'd rather not have
that happen given I don't have a plum orchard to replace it with, or 20
years to wait to grow another (if I can avoid it anyway, I know trees will
die at some point anyway).

So, I sawed off the broken branch leaving a V-shape in the trunk, with one
side cut and the other side left with the natural snap surface, and a small
crack below the apex of this V (and two big side branches coming out of each
side of the V). There appeared to be a family of woodlice and earwigs in
the partially snapped end that I removed, so presumably it wasn't as healthy
as it could be.

I've also sawn off one of the very tall branches that had partially snapped.
Plums seem to have a failure mode where they break, but remain partially
connected with sap flowing (for years, potentially). So presumably they
know how to cope in this situation? I can't see a cut surface so it looks
like the tree has never been pruned (I imagine 20-30 years old).

Having the V-shape exposed, where it can collect muck and water (but
hopefully will drain a bit), should I put some of the antifungal resin that
prevents infection? Or perhaps treat it with something like wax? Or just
let it be? There are other natural clefts in the tree that also collect
muck, but those have bark to protect them.

Theo