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Green Gage is just one of the many types of plums available in the summer months.
It is a drupe, and as with all drupes, has a large pit or stone inside, and soft succulent
flesh. Green Gage have a deep green skin and juicy yellow flesh. It is
considered one of the most striking of the plums.
Plum sizing is based on the maximum number of plums in a 10-pound sample of fruit.
Using this system, it is easy to figure the number of plums per pound and the number of
plums in the industry's standard 28-pound volume-fill box by using the following
conversion: Size = Number of Plums per 10 pound sample Plums Per
Pound = Size 10 Number of Plums per 28 lb. box = Size x 2.8
The most common plum sizes are 30, 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 56 and 70.
Plums must be kept out of the cooler and held at temperatures between 51 and 77 degrees
F to properly ripen to juicy, sweet perfection.
Fruit should be kept in this temperature range until flesh firmness has been reduced to
4-5 psi for plums. At this point, the fruit has reached the "transfer point" and
can be safely shipped to operators without bruising.
For the best quality and ripest plums keep tree fruit out of the cooler. You can actually
damage fruit by storing it between 36 and 50 degrees F--the
temperature of most commercial warehouse coolers. Fruit stored in this "killing
range" can develop "internal breakdown," becoming mealy, dry and tasteless.
Here are a few Plum good links:
http://caltreefruit.com/
http://vme.net/fvm/fresh/may19.html
http://www.nwcherries.com/plums.html
http://www.californiaclean.com/buyplum.html
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