About 5 years ago, we bought an Italian Plum tree (Prunus domestica) to add to our small orchard of five trees. It was a tree that had a lot of childhood memories for me, as we had one in our yard growing up. My Mom would make plum jam and can the beautiful, purple fruit. It would turn an incredible purple color once it was preserved. We'd enjoy the bounty of that tree all winter long.
This tree ("Fellenberg") is a late bloomer, and it takes it 3-5 years to bear fruit. This is the first year we had more than a half dozen plums on the tree, and we dragged out the ladder this afternoon to pick as many of the plums as we could reach.
The Italian Plum tree will bear fruit for 15-20 years, and provide frosm 3-5 bushels of fruit. I can't wait for future year's crops, but this year I'll make several batches of jam and give them as gifts in the fall and the holiday season.
Each tree is an adventure unto itself. This one was worth waiting the five years for the first harvest.
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