Jaci’s garden initially had only three fruit trees, including an ancient blood plum tree that yields a bountiful harvest every season.
Photo by
Jaci Hicken
Jaci Hicken, a seasoned Riv journalist and trained chef, shares her wealth of knowledge on growing, cooking and preserving homegrown produce and insights from running her cooking school. In this edition, Jaci introduces us to her plum tree.
Nearly two decades ago, my partner and I took the plunge, swapping our inner-city rental for a peaceful country life — chasing our tree-change dream.
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The other half is known publicly as BM, which stands for Building Maintenance Department.
My dream was to live on 30 acres outside a quaint little village, with all the animals, fruit trees and vegies needed to live self-sufficiently — the ultimate tree change.
As a true city slicker, BM had never tended a garden, cared for chooks or operated a tractor before our move.
Now, he's mastered all these country skills.
His advice, sticking to his guns, was, “Let’s live in town. Thirty acres is too much; we won’t be able to look after it.”
We discovered our ideal home: a property spanning 2800 square metres, just a stone's throw from the main street of a charming town.
With only 1500 residents and a two-hour drive from Melbourne, it was perfect.
Think Tongala, but in Gippsland.
The garden was non-existent, with only three fruit trees, an ornamental peach, an apple tree in an access way and an ancient blood plum tree.
The blood plum is a true blood plum, a satsuma, and even though the tree is ancient, it is the best cropper you could find, without any special care.
Jaci’s bountiful plum harvest.
Photo by
Jaci Hicken
Jaci preserves the plums in Fowlers Vacola jars, with 56 jars stored in the pantry for various culinary uses throughout the year.
Photo by
Jaci Hicken
Every season, our plum harvest is bountiful.
We preserve them, whip up jams, sauces and chutneys, and still have plenty left for the local parrots to feast upon.
And plums are one of the easiest things to preserve.
Here is how to preserve blood plums in the Fowlers Vacola:
• Wash the fruit.
• Halve and de-stone.
• Place upside down in a No. 31 Vacola jar, layering until about 12mm from the top.
• Add one spoon of sugar and fill with water.
• Preserve in your Fowlers Vacola unit as per its instructions.
Plums only need a spoonful of sugar and water to be preserved.
Photo by
Jaci Hicken
Preserving your plums as per the instructions for your Fowlers Vacola unit.
Photo by
Jaci Hicken
These plums don’t seem to get the air bubbles many Vacola fruit get when bottled.
There are now 56 No. 31 jars of plums that went through my unit, sitting in the pantry to use throughout the year.
Why so many, you ask?
Well, I use three jars monthly for plum hot sauce — that’s 36 jars.
The remaining 20 are perfect for year-round treats such as plum cake, crumble, or as a delicious pork chop topping.
It works out to about one jar every fortnight.
In the next edition, Jaci shares her tips to get through the mountain of zucchinis many of us have. If you have a culinary secret to share, contact jaci.hicken@mmg.com.au
Jaci uses 36 jars throughout the year for plum hot sauce and the remaining 20 jars for treats such as plum cake, crumble and pork chop toppings.
Photo by
Jaci Hicken
