Sunday in Gurjaani: Putting Up Plums

When I awoke Sunday morning, the sister hostesses were gone. Soon after, however they walked through the courtyard door carrying buckets of wild plums, a small fruit the size of cherries.

The water also came forth through the faucets now, so the women were busy refilling the water barrels and large basins to last them for a few days.

With wild plums and flowing water, it was a day to put up fruit for the winter.

1. The ladies placed the just-picked plums in basins of water, and the women, the granddaughters, and I sorted through the plums, setting aside bad ones and stems and foliage. 
2. Then we sorted the plums according to their red or yellow color. 
3. The women soaked the sorted plums through two or three changes of water. 
4. They were ready for processing. 
5. Some would go into jars for compote. Others would be cooked down into plum sauce. 

Sorting wild plums in cold water was a pleasant way to pass a hot day.

I also took a look at the "cold" room within the house. Cold being relative, you understand.