"You Old Prune" Tree

[Tom McMillan]

Today I was able to get some wood from some very old prune trees. A friend from my Chruch had taken some down recently. His Grandparents had purchased the land in 1939 and at that time the prune trees were said to be 80 years old, so these are well over 100 years old. These are from Camas, WA, and at one time from the late 1800's Prune Hill in Camas was known for prunes--by the early 1900's Prune Hill was known as the prune capital of the world---there were many prune orchards and prune dryers. During the Depression the bottom fell out---and today the orchards are gone, except for individual home orchards where there might still be a few trees left. I'm giving some thought about how I can use this wood for pens as a Historical tie in to the history of Prune Hill---is anyone doing something similar to this?? If so, just wonder what successes there are with such an effort??

Here's a photo of the wood.

 

[Dario]

Not sure how you will do it..but the wood looks awesome. The pens should sell easy.

Are prunes related to cherry?

 

[smoky10]

Dario, prunes are dried plums.

 

[Tom McMillan]

I went to Hobbithouse to check out the family---and yes, the plum (prune) and cherry are in the same family Prunus spp. of the family Roasaceae the rose family. The word prunus is the classical Latin name for the cherry tree. I did go to one website selling specific prune tree types and separate types of plum trees---I always thought they were dried plums too though??

 

[Tom McMillan]

I should say the Prune Hill area has developed into a lot of higher end homes and is a very high per capita income area now. The town of Camas (still a small town) has also changed quite a lot from my involvement in the business sector (I used to own a clothing store in Camas). There are now a lot of artsy shops---so might be a good avenue to try the pens.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

Mmmmm natural edge bowl on at least one of them...

 

[wudnhed]

That is some disgustingly pretty wood[}][][] Can't wait to see what you do with it.

 

[LostintheWoods]

Actually, while in the same family, plums and prunes are different fruits, and prunes are not dried plums. The dried prunes you purchase are just that--dried prunes. If it were not so, wouldn't "prune juice" be some kind of dehydrated something-or-other, like powdered milk??????????????huh--huh??

 

[Tea Clipper]

I could be wrong, but I also think prunes are dried plums. I believe the story goes that "prunes" are easier to sell/market to the public than "dried plums". Gotta love the marketing department. [}]

 

[ctwxlvr]

They are dried Plums just like raisins are dried grapes.

 

[kent4Him]

Plum is great to turn. Try a few cross cut.

 

[smoky10]

Originally posted by LostintheWoods
<br />Actually, while in the same family, plums and prunes are different fruits, and prunes are not dried plums. The dried prunes you purchase are just that--dried prunes. If it were not so, wouldn't "prune juice" be some kind of dehydrated something-or-other, like powdered milk??????????????huh--huh??

This is from Wikipedia.
Prune refers to the dried fruit of plum species (mostly Prunus domestica). It is wrinkly in shape, unlike its non-dried counterpart, the plum. More than 125 cultivars of plums are grown for drying. Four of the most common cultivars are French, Imperial, Italian, and Greengage. In general, prunes are freestone cultivars (the stone is easy to remove), whereas most other plums grown for fresh consumption are cling (the stone is more difficult to remove). Fresh prunes reach the market earlier than fresh plums and are usually smaller in size. Prune juice is richer in fiber than plum juice and is often marketed as a treatment for constipation, and it helps with kidney stones.

 

[Ozzy]

That is some beautiful wood and should make some beautiful pens.

 

[byounghusband]

I wonder if sawdust from the Prune Trees will make your nose run??[}][}]

 

[Rifleman1776]

Wikipedia, IMHO, has to be the least reliable source for information in the world. Anyone can enter 'stuff' (not necessarily facts) into it and/or edit what is there. All without vetting.
Checking several sites, I found that the California growers and packer of prunes are now calling their product "dried plums". Here is another source: http://homecooking.about.com/od/cookingfaqs/f/faqprunes.htm

So, that wood from the "plum" tree you have looks great. Should make great turnings. []

 

[kent4Him]

Originally posted by Rifleman1776
<br />Wikipedia, IMHO, has to be the least reliable source for information in the world. Anyone can enter 'stuff' (not necessarily facts) into it and/or edit what is there. All without vetting.

Only slightly less reliable than directions from Mapquest.

 

[LostintheWoods]

In that case, I guess that the tree in my yard is a French "dried plum" tree. Was I ripped off when they sold it to me as a French prune tree???? The fruit is oval, not round like a plum, and 1-1/2" to 2 inches long, purple skin, and amber flesh, with a seed like an apricot or.......well, a plum. I would say wikipedia is not the best reference here, better to use a horticultural reference source.

 

[smoky10]

Originally posted by LostintheWoods
<br />In that case, I guess that the tree in my yard is a French "dried plum" tree. Was I ripped off when they sold it to me as a French prune tree???? The fruit is oval, not round like a plum, and 1-1/2" to 2 inches long, purple skin, and amber flesh, with a seed like an apricot or.......well, a plum. I would say wikipedia is not the best reference here, better to use a horticultural reference source.

The following is from "Trees of Antiquity"
French prune tree
Small red to purple-skinned prune plum with amber flesh. Very sweet, mild flavor. Good for eating fresh or canning and drying. 800 chill hours needed. Self-fertile.