I picked some wild plums this weekend

I went out to the farm and picked three buckets of wild plumbs. I came home smelly, exhausted, and scratched. My better half has the much more difficult job of converting them into jelly or something else tasty.

I didn't have the camera when I was picking which is a shame. Only about half the bushes had plums but the ones that produced were heavy with fruit. They looked like bunches of grapes on the limbs. I hope to post pics of the harvest later.

If you go after wild plums you need some basic gear.

buckets

work gloves and heavy clothes including a hat

snake boots or chaps

limb trimmers or some other method of making a path through the thicket

eye protection is a good idea because the limbs will come up and slap you

insect repellent

lots of liquids to drink

sunscreen

My grandfather's method was to back his truck into the thicket as far as he could go (no doubt hoping he didn't get stuck and have to use the tractor to pull it out), then climb into the bed and pick from there. One benefit of that method is that you don't have to carry the buckets back to the truck when they are full. I didn't use that method because I figured that Murphy's law would dictate that the wiring for my tail/brake lights and possibly my brake lines would get snarled on a plum bush and ripped out.

Another entertaining possibility when picking plums is running into wild pigs. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to reduce the local population although they had been rooting around under the bushes. Next time I plan on staying an extra day so I can stake out the place at night after picking. I always drop plenty of plumbs when picking and it is impossible to pick most of them up. Pigs love plums so the one's I drop can become great bait for them. Sausage and wild plums would make a great combination.