How ripe do I let this one get before picking? Pick too soon, ripens on the kitchen counter without reaching the full beauty of its sweetness. Pick too late, and the birds gorge. Dilemma.

Two scraggly, neglected plum trees came with the property. I was skeptical they’d produce fruit this year since the young plums looked so runty. Today I see a few starting to ripen, though. Maybe we’ll have plums this year after all!