Kage Baker lived on Santa Rosa plums during their brief, 1 or 2 week season every year. They are simply the best plums ever. And I am doing my level best to subsist on them now.

They have fallen out of favour, commercially – in the 1960’s, they still made up 30% of the plum market; today, it is less than 1%. Mr. Luther Burbank (who originally bred them) would be shocked and disappointed. Those of us who still love them certainly are. Santa Rosas are not as big as most modern breeds, and they don’t travel as well; which means they actually get ripe instead of staying hard as stone for three weeks. Many modern city-dwellers never taste an actual ripe piece of fruit …

Anyway, they have the best, most divine plum flavour in the world. These days I only find Santa Rosas at farmers’ markets; they seem to be grown in small amounts, in private groves. By the fae, doubtless. The rest of the summer I have to content myself with the many splendid new hybrids that now exist, the pluots and plumcots and aprilums and such. Which is not exactly a hardship, I must admit.

But right now, right now, it’s Santa Rosa time, and in Kage’s honour I am eating them. I’ve eaten half a dozen today, and have 3 pounds more in the kitchen. I also have local artisan ewe’s milk cheese, and freshly baked French bread. Gonna be a good snacking day, Dear Readers.

All this makes up for the crazy neighbor problems. So does all your advice, which has been taken quite to heart. We’ve started a paper trail with the police, and are being very careful. But, you know, crazy neighbors sometimes just happen. A certain amount of care and caution and all will be well.

And in the meantime, I dwell happily in the heart of plumdom. As Kage would say, “The Queen of plums all!”