Plum glut? 10 ways to use, keep and share them

1. Pick in stages

Go over the tree every couple of days. Pick fruit that's coloured and just starting to give, and let slightly firm ones finish ripening indoors in a bowl. This spreads the glut and beats the wasps. Pick with the stalk on where you can, as the fruit bruises less and keeps a little longer. Clear fallen plums every day or two, because rotting fruit draws wasps to the tree.

2. Freeze stoned halves

Halve, stone and open-freeze on a tray, then bag. Frozen plums keep for up to a year and go straight into crumbles, cakes and compotes. This is the single most useful thing to do with a plum glut.

3. Stew them

Simmer stoned plums with a little sugar and a cinnamon stick or star anise until soft. Eat with yoghurt or porridge, spoon over ice cream, or freeze in portions for winter puddings.

4. Bake

Plum crumble, plum cake and plum tart all use a lot of fruit. A traditional German plum sheet cake uses dozens at once. Baking softens sharp skins, so slightly underripe fruit works well here, which helps when the whole tree ripens at once.

5. Roast them

Halve and roast with a drizzle of honey and a splash of orange juice for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve warm with cream, or with roast pork or duck.

6. Make jam

Plums are high in pectin and set easily, so plum jam is a good first jam. Use a tested recipe and sterilised jars. Keep it for yourself and as gifts, because jam is processed food with extra rules, so Leaf Exchange doesn't list it.

7. Dry them

Halve, stone and dry on a rack in the oven at its lowest setting. It takes many hours, so it suits a day when you're home anyway. Smaller, firmer, sweeter plums dry best; very juicy ones take much longer. Store in an airtight jar.

8. Share, swap or sell them locally

A plum tree in full crop gives far more than one household can eat in a week, and the fruit won't wait. Local sharing is the quickest way to get ripe plums eaten. Plums are on the countable list, so you can offer them:

• Each at a set price, without scales.
• A bagful for free, as a swap, or pay what you think. A bag can't have a set price unless it's weighed on trade scales.
• A big box over 5 kg at a set price, which suits jam makers.
• Windfalls for free, described honestly, for someone who'll cook them that day.

Name the variety if you know it (Victoria is the classic), and say whether they're ripe now or need a day or two. Neighbours reserve on Leaf Exchange and collect from you in person.

List your surplus

9. Donate them

Food banks, community fridges and food hubs often welcome fresh fruit. Check first, and bring firm plums rather than very ripe ones, since they'll need to last a day or two. In Buckinghamshire, Grow to Give collects growers' surplus.

10. Look after the tree, and plan next year

Heavy crops can snap plum branches, so prop up laden ones with a forked stake. Thin the fruit in early summer to one every few centimetres. You'll get bigger plums and fewer broken branches, and the tree is less likely to crop heavily only every other year. Prune plums in summer, not winter, to lower the risk of silver leaf disease.

How long plums keep

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