Ume plums, a beautiful discovery in my own backyard

Just a week or so ago I finally identified the beautiful fruit tree in our backyard. It's an ume plum tree. A Japanese plum that is more like an apricot. The fruits of these trees are a bit toxic when raw but are coveted for their alkalizing abilities once cured. They can be made into jam, drid into umeboshi or pickles, fermented and even made into Ume plum wine. Wow. I have a lot to discover.

The ume plum is small and greenish, turning yellow as they ripe. Some get a slight blush to them. Found several websites online to help me with the first project, making jam. Here is the recipe I followed.

First one needs to clean the little stems on the plums using a small paring knife or toothpick. These dont taste good. Then basically I soaked the plums over night with salt to detoxify them. Then I started a boil on the stove and soften them up a bit. After a quick drain I smashed the plums using the flat side of a chefs knife to remove the pit. Again, use this website to learn more.

I had about 4 pounds of plums and used about 3 cups sugar and fresh lemon juice. I could have used less as I enjoy some tartness. But this turned out good. I canned 3 and 1/2 pints and had another pint left for the refrigerator.

Treating myself to fresh ume jam, goat cheese and fresh jalepeno/asiago sourdough from the Rustic Loaf at our local farmers market.

Now this is obviously not the most alkalizing way to enjoy this coveted fruit. But it's a start! And Anything alkalizing is great for folks with MS or any inflammatory disease.
Now time to try to make some umeboshi.

Supposedly it clears up a hangover right away. Imagine what it could do for those with MS!

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