I hope to photograph my loaded Superior tree and its fruit today and post it. My Superior tree is weeping in form as was mentioned by others. These plums are not yet ripe here in Michigan, but they're getting there. I have tree identification problems of my own from wrongly labeled scions(apples)--but the investigation turns out to be interesting and fun.

have you tried the fruit forum???? i have never seen much discussion regarding fruit here.. but you never know what might be hiding in someones garden.. good luck on your search .. ken

I picked my first green tomatoes last week for Fried Green Tomatoes and then picked my first vine-ripened Tomatoes Friday, just in time for the Fourth. This year I am growing the following: Super Sweet 100s, Big Boy, Beefsteak, Beefmaster, Rrandywine, Juliet, San Marzano and Stupice. All my tomato plants are loaded and doing super this year. The Ground Cherries are loaded too. Can't wait to taste that first one. The peppers are making, but I've only harvested a quart of Jalapeno peppers so far. I used some to make the Ortega family Jalapeno-apple salad with them - has toasted Calif. Walnuts or Pinon nuts in it and a dab of Mayonnaise. Scrumptious. The 2 kinds of Hatch Peppers that I grow have fruit & the the Red Bell pepper plants are loaded. Nothing so far on the Big Bertha sweet peppers, but they are always late making their gigantic peppers anyway. The Aztec peppers are growing big now. Hope to get them in the ground or in big pots tomorrow. They are super hot. I don't know what they really are called. That is what I call them. They come in dried in the clear plastic canisters of Parrot food. They are easy to grow. Hot little buggers. I get my biggest pepper crops from September thru October. Hope that is the case this year. I used the rest of the Jalapenos today to make Peach Salsa. Used the red peppers I froze from last year's crop with Mexibells and Jalapenos. HOT ans sweet. Got 6 large-mouth pints jars of Salsa and had enough left that we ate it with tortilla chips this evening while the jars processed. That is my favorite salsa. Terrific with ham or chicken or just eaten with tortillas chips. The Cantaloupes finally took off this past week and are growing all over the south end of the tomato garden now and they are blooming. They are Hale's Best. Always get gobs of super-sweet melons with a buttery smooth texture. I hope to have enough to also make Melon Salsa again. The pole beans have climbed to the top of the teepees and doubling back down. Beginning to bloom. Hope they don't collapse in all this rain. Cucumber plants looked like they would die for awhile in late May. Didn't grow hardly at all. They began to turn yellow when the heat wave hit, so I put some old bamboo rake heads over them for shade, fed them and they almost immediately began to change to green and grow. Now they are going to town climbing up the fence and making blooms. So we shall see if I get cukes. I've been picking the wild Sand Plums up on the creek to make jam. It is awesome eaten while still hot with butter on Homemade bread right out of the oven or on Indian Frybread. So far there are only a few little figs on my tree. Last year they didn't put on fruit until late, so I only got one puny little fig before the first frost hit and spoiled the rest of the crop. It was a tasty little fig though. I keep hoping I will get a bug enough crop so I can make fig preserves. I use them to make my Christmas Figgy Pudding (a moist spice-Fig Cake with a thin layer of fig preserves between the layers and more spooned over the top. Decadent.) This weather is just so weird! IF this rain doesn't stop, I will lose some plants from standing water and the hot-cool-hot-cool temp fluctuations. I had to put on a Hoody to go put the chickens to bed tonight. Kinda ruined our Fourth of July plans for today. Our family get together is tomorrow. Sure hope it dries up and doesn't get spoiled too. ~Annie

I wouldn't hesitate to can it. After all, Brits, Europeans and Canadians are not exactly dropping like flies from not BWBing jams and chutneys. It does have over a cup of vinegar plus sugar in it, and I usually cook my chutneys 30-45 minutes to thicken, so the onion should be acidified sufficiently. Many of my chutney recipes call for 15 or 20 minute processing rather than just 10 minutes, and I don't notice any impact on flavor or texture from an additional 5 or 10 minutes of processing. Deborah, My across-the-road neighbors are British, and I give them a Christmas "hamper" of chutneys and jams every year. A confit (yeah, I think it's just another chutney really) like this they would eat on bangers and mash (grilled sausages and mashed potatoes) or with any grilled meat like a pork chop or tenderloin. I think it would be good with grilled chicken, too. Also they love cheddar and chutney sandwiches. I've grown to love them, too. If I can find good plums at the farmer's market, I'll try this one. Sounds delicious. Thanks for the recipe, Elaina!