Plums and prunes
South West France is world famous for the plums which are grown here - and for the prunes which are a delicacy exported across the world. Lot et Garonne is the centre of French plum production and, as you would expect, it has a patchwork of plum orchards which are covered in a delicate white blossom at the end of March and into April. The hillsides look as though they are covered in snow for a few beautiful days and then the blossom fades as quickly as it arrived.
This year, during the blossom period, we had one or two frosts - which can kill the flowers and be a death knell to that year's harvest. Time will tell however. The frosts were light so hopefully the harvest will only be slightly diminished and not destroyed.
The type of plum tree used for prune production is called the prunier d'ente (and the plum is prune d'ente). This is a dark plum which is not a juicy as a British Victoria plum but instead has a rich quality which, when dried, produces large, succulent plums bred to be ideal for drying. The trees are grown in small orchards on private farms across the region and the process of growing and plum manufacture is also small scale, relying on artisan producers and an understanding of the craft.
The fruit is harvested in August, using a machine which first surrounds the tree with a sheet to catch the fruit as they fall. This unfolds from a trailer which has been towed into position by a tractor. An arm, usually driven by the tractor's power take-off then firmly grasps the tree trunk and gives it a good shake. Plums fall from said tree into the sheet which is then folded back into the tractor and the whole contraption is towed back to the farm.
Once back at base the prunes are thinly spread onto a band which travels very slowly through a drying oven. The process can take up to 24 hours, but is dependent on the judgement of the farmer and the size of the plums. The final product is packed and sold as "prunes d'Agen". Agen is the capital of Lot et Garonne and hosts an annual plum festival once the harvest is in the bag - as it were. Last year's festival was cancelled - fingers crossed for 2021.
Once the harvest and the work of drying the plums is over the trees are pruned and the farmers wait until the following spring when the process begins again.
The ground under the trees is frequently grazed by sheep and, during the brief flowering period it is not uncommon to see beehives in the orchards as beekeepers take advantage of all of the nectar while, at the same time, the bees help pollinate this important crop.
We have one prunier d'ente tree left at the Jardin Paysan - a relic from the days when every farmer had a few plum trees and produced his own prunes. As we don't have enough fruit to entertain the idea of making our own prunes I use the plums to make a chutney. However, in the past we have taken our crop of plums to a farmer friend who ran them through his ovens and gave us back our own prunes. Our friend found the puny nature of our plums very funny and delighted in telling us that they didn't need 24 hours to dry - 12 hours was quite sufficient for something as amateur as we had grown. We were told that we had to prune the trees in a specific way and strictly according to the phases of the moon. Sure enough when the moon was right our friend turned up on the doorstep with his secateurs and showed us how it was done. Result - bigger plums the next year.
A sad post script is that the importance of plum production in SW France has dwindled in recent years as cheaper, mass produced imports supplant the more expensive, artisan produced prunes d'Agen. As a result many plum orchards have been replaced with hazelnuts. Still very pretty, but not quite the same.
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