Plum good eatin'

Last week, less than six weeks after my friend Carmen pruned all my fruit trees, the Santa Rosa plum tucked way in the back next to the fence, started budding out. That's the way it is in southern California gardens: dormancy is very short-lived. This week it is in full bloom and the honey bees, like this little guy in the photo, are already putting in long days.

Santa Rosas (Prunus salicina) are self-pollinating, so there's no need to plant a second one to get a crop, and this little beauty never disappoints. By mid-June this semi-dwarf tree will be laden with more plums than I can handle. I've learned to cook many ways with plums and have compiled what I think one day will be a cookbooklet, but I prefer Santa Rosas right off the tree. If a basketful actually makes it into the kitchen, I slice a couple and add them to a simple Waldorf salad, topped with yogurt.