By Kent Converse

We have a native fruit in Kansas called “Sand Hill Plum.” It grows best on sandy hills, so that is where it got its name. The fruit is about the size of a quarter. The Sand Hill Plum bush can be two to eight feet high. Many a late freeze kills the fruit blossom and you have no fruit for the year.

This year, we had a late freeze and it got most of the crop but a few bushes came through the freeze and bore fruit.

Picking the plums is no pleasure. You have to keep your mind on the finished product because Sand Hill Plums are hard to pick. For one thing they have small thorns. The branches get intertwined. Other plant vines grow over the bushes. You pay the price for picking plums.

We make the plums into jelly and most people who taste it say it’s the best in the world. This year I am going to give some to my cousin who is going to make them into wine. It’s good too but I like the label on the bottle better than the wine. It says: “Converse Sand Hill Plum Wine.”

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