Plums

We have a couple of plum trees in the garden, the first to ripen were the dark purple ones - not sure what type they are (possibly damson?).

The big tree was literally dripping with fruit so we had to figure out the best way to use them.  Ian suggested we get a dehydrator and after searching around I decided I would like a Fowlers one.  The Fowlers dehydrator has variable temperature and you can add in extra trays plus Fowlers is Australian and has been in the preserving business for a long time.  I checked ebay and had a couple of units on my watchlist, but I ended up with a new one after going into the local Mitre 10 and finding them on sale.  Not only did K&D have them on sale, but they had huge signs proclaiming "Summer time is preserving time!".

So we made prunes.  I just did a couple of trays for the first try and this photo shows them after they had been drying for about 20 hours (they were more densely spaced, but I forgot to take a photo before starting to eat unload them).

Sofia loves them.

We also made plum sauce using another of Sally Wise's recipes.  It is a delicious way to use the fruit and turns out a very deep beautiful colour.

The other tree's fruit is starting to ripen now.  We have been told by a couple of people that it is a Greengage plum which is apparently one of the best plums for eating.