Here at Cloud Mountain, we grow more than 150 varieties of certified organic fruit at the base of Sumas Mountain in Everson, WA. One of our team’s favorite early-ripening fruits is the Methley Plum. They’re a wonderful choice for both eating and growing! The Methley’s parentage is mysterious, but it’s suspected to be a cross of an American and a Japanese plum and was discovered as a chance seedling (lucky us!) in South Africa in the 1920s.
This red-fleshed, clingstone variety ripens early; for us, this is mid-late July. It’s a heavy-bearing tree, self-fertile, and works well as a pollinator for other early-bearing Japanese varieties. It’s susceptible to black knot fungus and shothole blight, but we’ve seen it remain far more resilient and healthy than other Japanese and European plum cultivars.
We grow Methley plums on both drawf and standard rootstocks, free-standing and pruned to an open-vase system. We’re planning to plant more Methley trees in our orchard, likely in a quad v leader system. Get ready for more plums in a few years from Cloud Mountain!
Methley plums are delicious eaten fresh or in a sauce/jelly/pie/crisp/etc., but they don’t keep for long so use them up. They also make an excellent savory-sweet plum sauce; we’re fans of this one.
You can find our Methley plums at the Bellingham Farmers market, at one of our tasting events, or for sale on-farm while supplies last. You can also buy a Methley plum tree (or three!) of your very own. Stay tuned for our nursery’s fruit tree sale this September.
