English plums make it three in a row

The English plum season will hit its peak next week in what is a third bumper year in a row. Victoria, Reeves and Jubileum are all on stream and typically fruit has a brix content as high as 16 to 18 as growers leave fruit on trees as long as possible.

The cold winter gave the fruit the chill units and dormancy it needed and Steve Maxwell of Worldwide Fruit said the dry conditions in April had really helped.

“The spring time started everything off strongly and made the fruit really robust,” he said.