What is the best Chickasaw Plum?
The Chickasaw plum is a small, easy-to-grow tree plum that produces bountiful crops of delicious fruit. Read on to learn more about the history and uses as well as growing tips for getting your own little beautiful plum orchard off to a great start.
Chickasaw Plum Tree
History
As a native species, Chickasaw plum trees are not grafted or established by cross-pollination. Instead, it was cultivated by Chickasaw and other indigenous peoples long before Europeans settled in the Americas.
The botanist William Bartram gave the fruit its English name after the Chickasaw Indian tribe, who watched it harvest and eat potatoes during his travels in 1773. His book, Travels, appears to be the first published English-language publication whose name we now know. Chickasaw Plum, and details many of his observations of the natural world through his research in the southeastern United States and his learning from indigenous peoples.
Barton had seen Chickasaw in their ancestral lands before their forced removal along the Trail of Tears in Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Bartram Tours are celebrated by the Bartram Canoe Trail in Alabama.
How do Chickasaw plums taste?
Expect a consistent sweet flavor from these peaches. These wild plums are absolutely delicious, but due to their size, they are not generally considered to be eaten fresh. The pulp should be very juicy, one of the most delicious wild plums.
How to use plum Chickasaw
The easiest to use is to put a bowl of clean prunes on your kitchen counter and let your family or guests have a handful at leisure. It would be like eating fresh cherries - small sweet fruits that should be left with pits but would be lovely in fruit displays.
Since these trees grow wild and healthy (you can usually see roadside stops in Oklahoma), there's a good chance you'll encounter a large number of plums at one time. As such, one of the most accessible options is to make delicious jelly.
Kelly's Kitchen has a great and simple recipe for using fresh fruit to make delicious jelly. The only ingredients needed are prunes, pectin, and a whole lot of sugar. If you prefer to avoid the texture of pectin, you can also try this pectin-free recipe from Texas Homesteader.
For the more adventurous ready to shake up the former jelly, try making a Wild Plum Spritzer. The recipe is alcohol-free, but it seems like it could be improved with a healthy sprinkle of champagne or Prosecco.
Finally, if you're at risk of spoiling your plum before you have time to handle it, consider freezing it as a last resort. Due to the small size of this plum, this will be a chore, but it is better than damaging your crop.
Where to buy Chickasaw peaches
Chickasaw Plum fruit
If you live in the Southeast, and for individual shopping, visit the local nurseries that have some more unique trees than the average big box store. Since the Chickasaw plum tree is native to the Southeast, you should be able to find trees locally or at a nursery, that deals in local stock.
If you find that your local options are limited, you may find more success online. This variety is growing in popularity as a landscaping tool to prevent erosion, so it is increasingly available.
As for buying fruit instead of just a whole tree, your best bet is roadside fruit in the Southeast. They may also be carried by local specialty stores in the area, but Chickasaw plums are not commercially produced.
How to grow Chickasaw peach
In the wild, you will see trees grow naturally in different ways depending on what part of the country you live in. In the eastern United States, they typically grow as single trees rather than in large clumps. As you head west, the trees grow into thistle bushes, which are great for providing summer shade for grassland animals.
The look and what to expect in your new tree
Many of us make impulse purchases at a tree nursery that calls us and looks perfect at the moment. Before you go to work digging a hole (there are probably worse gardening jobs), first consider the needs of the tree to create an aesthetic.
This tree grows from a shrub that is about 4 feet to 25 feet high. Between four and 25 feet are extreme values, and most nursery stock you get will be between 8 and 12 feet tall.
Think of a tree that will be short and strong, not tall and beautiful. They also release side branches which can be a bit prickly, so maybe keep them out of your kids' favorite play area.
Find an area with full sun and partial shade, and think about whether you want the tree to be part of a shrub or tree.
Expect small, 5-petaled white flowers in the spring before the leaves appear. Edible fruit should be in the middle of summer - around mid-July or a little later. The leaves will be green and narrow, hence the tree's scientific name, Prunus angustifolia. Angustifolia means tight.
The practical use of trees should not be overlooked. They are increasingly being used as part of basic soil management plans to prevent erosion. Being drought tolerant, trees help preserve soils in arid regions against soil erosion from wind and other natural elements.
Humans aren't the only plum lovers, so they'll also bring birds, deer, and squirrels to your garden. The trees are also popular nesting sites for birds.
Agriculture and development
Chickasaw plums like sandy soil, so when you dig a full hole at least twice as deep and as deep as the root ball, throw in some sand as backfill if you have heavy clay soil. They do not do well in alkaline soils, and if you have any doubts about the texture of the soil, see your local extension office. They usually offer soil sample testing.
Once established, you can expect your tree to be drought tolerant, but before that, be sure to keep out weeds and weeds that will compete for nutrients and water.
Chickasaw Plum range
The Chickasaw plum is self-pollinating, but the tree will produce abundantly when another plum tree is within 50 feet of it. They are excellent pollinators that produce large amounts of pollen.
This may be something to consider if you are allergic to trees and want to avoid them, or if you are keen on attracting bees and other pollinators.
If you have a vegetable garden that struggles to produce squash or squash, bringing this tree into the area will help bring in pollinators to reproduce vegetables.
Trim and absorb
When you plant, be aware that these trees produce suckers in hopes of spreading into thorny shrubs. Believe me, you don't want to get into a fight with an established position of suckers.
The best way to keep them in place is to remove them immediately after germination so they don't get stuck with a brittle bunch of ripe sucker seeds that are cut back after they are woody.
Other similar fruits
Wild plums like Chickasaw range from delicious to inedible, so don't assume they're all the same. Chickasaw will be very different from the large Japanese plum we see in grocery stores.
You may find that they have a lot in common with the Mexican plums. The Mexican plum and Chickasaw plum have similar growing habitats, but you'll be much happier with the flavor and yield of the Chickasaw plum.
Native cultivars like Chickasaw plum are an easy way for gardeners to introduce sustainable elements into their home gardens, and this particular tree will give you the added bonus of delicious fruit.
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