North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Diane Porter <dporter@lisco.com>]

I picked some wild plums that for the first time have ripened nicely.  
The skins are sour and astringent, but the juice is sweet and fragrant  
like flowers. I made some jam by nicking the skins, boiling the  
fruits, and squeezing out the juice.

Oh my, was it astringent! Clearly the skins ruined the jam.

I still have enough plums to try again, but how to go about it... The  
fruits are so small that it's not practical to skin them. Any thoughts  
on how to preserve the goodness and avoid the astringency of these  
lovely fruits?

Thanks,

Diane Porter, Fairfield, Iowa