i don’t know what factors came together to produce such an enormous bounty of fruit on my farm (i.e. my backyard) but the output has been tremendous. i decided to have a couple of neighborhood harvest parties so that i could get some help picking all the apples and then the plums that ripened a few weeks later. i thought i could pull off a tom sawyer “painting the fence” caper and make my friends think it would be FUN to harvest with me. i would provide snacks and drinks and my neighbors could do the labor. i was imagining something like the barn raising parties they used to have on little house on the prairie. pa would be out there entertaining everyone on his fiddle (i could play macklemore on my sonos), ma would would lay out cornbread, fresh, grilled deer meat and homemade pies (i made a run to trader joes), the children would be running around (i have a couple of those) and the grown ups would build a barn (the neighbors would pick my apple tree and plum bush clean) so i wouldn’t have to gather up any more rotten fruit or worry about the bears coming into my yard and leaving giant poops or mauling us.
mother nature did not help me out. a hurricane and lots of lighting arrived just before the first party. only a couple of brave neighbors risked the rain and possible electrocution to help me collect apples. two weeks later, i tried again when the plums were ready (and there were still a bazillion apples.) this time, it was so stunningly hot the turnout was also quite minimal. so i’ve pretty much been like the little red hen… picking, collecting and composting all on my own (with the forced labor of my two little chickies and hank, who eats a fair share of the apples on the ground and also likes to bring the especially mangy ones into the house to play with.)
i really love my neighbors, but i wish the ingalls family also lived on 7th street. i would be happy to offer them my guest room… i am sure it is bigger than their little house in the big woods and certainly cleaner and more comfortable than that other house they dug out of a hillside that had no windows. pa could set up a salt lick and turn my shed into a smoke house so we would have plenty of jerky for the winter. i know he’d keep us safe from the bears (just TODAY there was a HUGE one in the tree across the street from my farm) and mountain lions…honestly, i am not sure human people are really meant to live in boulder… so MUCH nature was here first and they don’t seem to have any intention of leaving.) and i’m sure he would be able to fix my side gate that has gotten wonky and sticks. ma would probably be canning and jamming and making amazing fruit pies. i’m sure she would appreciate that i can pick up the flour and butter for the crusts from safeway… she wouldn’t have to grind the wheat or churn the cream at all. and i could drive them around in my nice, air-conditioned car with the windows rolled up so they wouldn’t have to get all dusty and hot riding around in their wagon when they needed to do errands. i know ma would LOVE my washing machine… so much easier than beating clothes with rocks in the boulder creek, plus i think my bosch is a little gentler on the fabric so their hand-sewn clothes would last longer. laura and mary could teach my kids to play that game with the stick and big wooden circle so i could get my lovies off their various devices. we could all cuddle up under ma’s quilts (freshly laundered in my machine) in the evenings and i could introduce them to movies. yes, i can imagine us as dear friends… so next fruit season i am going to get my harvest party evite out to the ingalls straight away, as i am sure they are in high demand that time of year.
PLUM BUTTER (as directed by my neighbor, charles)
wash and pit as many plums as you can tolerate… my finger tips were deep purple for a week after i did this! put the plums in a pot on the stove and cook down for half an hour. scoop the cooked plums in the vitamix and mix for a minute or so.
PLUM CRISP from geniuskitchen
FILLING
4 cups sliced and pitted plums
1 tablespoon flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon (i did not include this as i am not a big cinnamon fan)
TOPPING
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats (i was out of oats so i added more flour and some flax - see how boulder i’ve gotten?)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
mix filling ingredients in a large bowl and scoop into a big pie dish. mix topping ingredients in a separate bowl and sprinkle on top of the filling. bake for about 40 minutes at 350 degrees until fruit is bubbling and topping is browned. serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
