Heritage Plant Holds Promise
for Northeast Growers
The wild beach plum, a gnarly shrub that
grows on sand dunes between Maine and Maryland,
offers the potential to both diversify Northeast
farm operations and give growers a financial
boost.
Beach plums, about the size and color of
purple grapes, make a tasty, unusual jam
and, for many New Englanders, conjure up
summers spent on Cape Cod. The fruit's popularity
and historically based appeal—beach
plums have been harvested and processed into
spreads by locals for more than a century—translate
into a highly marketable new commodity.
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education-funded
researchers at Cornell University planted
beach plum stock on research stations and
12 farms in 2002, and their field day and
resulting publicity encouraged 22 more farmers
to request beach plum plants. Participating
farmers in Massachusetts and New York, many
of them vegetable, berry, and cranberry producers
looking to diversify, are interested in this
niche crop that lends itself so well to value-added
products.
“It's something unique,” said
Rick Uva, a Cornell project cooperator. “People
like that it has a local history and mystique.”
The plant, hardy enough to grow a heavy
fruit crop in its native harsh dune environment,
performed well on research stations even
during 2002's summer drought. Growers, who
will wait 3 or 4 years for plants to bear
fruit, may be able to shore up dry years
and attract new customers.
“There's a tremendous local interest
historically,” said Ron Smalowitz,
a Falmouth, MA, vegetable and berry grower
who has grown a plot of beach plums since
1996 and improved and expanded his stock
to 300 with help from the Cornell team. Smalowitz
processes his own plum jam for sale at his
farm stand.
While his berry business remains brisk,
beach plum jam retails for $1 more per jar,
and “We can't keep it on the shelves,” he
said. Project leader Tom Whitlow predicts
that restaurant chefs seeking unique and
regional products will pay top dollar for
the little plums. “It has a local panache,” Whitlow
said.
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