I was sitting in my office at The Columbian-Progress when an older gentleman came in and asked if I would be interested in doing a story on his plum tree's broken limb.
My first thought was why on earth would I do a story on a broken limb of a plum tree? The man, Joe Bullock, even said I probably thought he was crazy for asking. I did, but I didn't tell him that until later.
I spoke with Bullock for a bit and decided I would go have a look at this tree because he was so nice, and I have never been that far down Baylis Chapel Road. I also remember the plum trees my grandparents had over on Bond Circle when I was little, and I was curious.
When I arrived at Bullock's home, he escorted me back to his garden where he grows a variety of vegetables, tomatoes and fruit trees, including peach and several varieties of plums, such as the bubblegum plum.
The plum tree in question was huge and had so many plums on it that the limb just got weighted down and cracked.
Bullock paid a tree farm $38 in Columbia, Mo. for this tree eight years ago when it was about three feet tall. It is now about 30 feet tall and more than 25 feet from leaf tip to leaf tip.
As I looked the tree over and listened to Bullock talk about growing plum trees, I realized an interesting story could be made after all.
Many people like the taste of green plums. Bullock said women especially like them with a little salt. Last week he and his wife, Martha, sold a five-gallon bucket full to a group of nurses that buy from them every year.
I did try one of those green plums. Sour does not even begin to describe it. I hated to waste that one plum, but I am not one of those women.
Bullock said they usually make about $500 off of this one tree, but he has never seen this many plums on it. They expect to make even more money this year.
Bullock had issues in the past getting plum trees to grow. He said it is not easy, and he has had to learn some keys to success.
The first key is that the tree must be self-pollinating. That means the grower doesn't have to buy two trees to pollinate each other. If someone has only one tree, and it is not self-pollinating, no plums will ever grow on that tree.
The other key is in spraying the tree correctly.
The tree needs to be sprayed four times with fungicide while it is dormant, according to Bullock, to keep bore worms and scale insects out.
Once the tree blooms, it needs to be sprayed with fungicide to keep the fruit from getting rotten. The tree should not be treated with insecticide until fruit appears. Insecticide will keep bugs off, of course, but good bugs are needed to pollinate the tree.
Once fruit appears, the tree should be sprayed every 10 days with insecticide until the fruit is mature. This will keep wasps from stinging the fruit and causing worms.
For those who prefer the ripe plums, the fruit will slowly ripen over a period of three to four weeks depending on the weather.
A few days after the initial visit, the tree had a few plums that had ripened. Joe and Martha took cane poles and knocked some down as Joe teased Martha about her getting the best husband she could have gotten. It seems they both did well and couldn't be happier.
The ripe plums were delicious. Surprisingly, the best tasting were the ones that were right in between green and red.
The Bullocks told me they did not think I would return because they were sure I thought Joe had lost his mind. I admitted to them that I did, but there is usually more to something than meets the eye if you just take the time to look and listen.
This plum tree near the Marion-Lamar county line has an overabundance of fruit. When it gets ripe and disappears, I hope the Bullocks blame the birds and raccoons and not this reporter.
