Methley Plum Harvest and Jam. 7.16.2021

Methley plums are completely ripe. Those are the purple ones. The yellow ones are Shiro, almost ripe.

I picked two giant size bowls of plums. One bowl should be about one batch of jam.

To make a jam, I skinned them. The skin is loose, like a slipskin grape, very easy. The stones are clingstone, which is a lot more work to get off. I sliced the flesh off the stones, into a large measuring cup, until I had seven cups. Then I followed the directions on low sugar pectin to make jam. It should have been 8 half pints, but I over compensated for boiling loss and it was 9 pints. Still, it gelled and the flavor is incredible, like some kind of tropical candy. These will help me through the winter. It helps make growing fruit more worthwhile. These plums can't be bought in any store, and processing them in a factory doesnt seem like an easy thing. So home made is the only option.  This is one of my all time favorite jams.