Posted by oakandsage on August 05, 2013 at 00:57

My landlady's plum tree is loaded with almost-ripe plums, light purple but still hard. The birds are going to town. In order to ensure that we get to eat some of the plums, we're picking buckets and boxes full.

Is it better to wash the plums right away, or to leave them unwashed until ready to eat? I noticed that on the tree, those plums that got bird poo on them tended to rot starting from the affected area, which makes me inclined to wash, but I think most produce is supposed to keep better if you don't wash it, for example because the natural coating of yeast would tend to outcompete foreign organisms if the fruit isn't directly exposed to a giant glob of bird poop.

I washed half the plums that I picked yesterday, and left the most pristine unwashed, so I guess we'll see, but I wondered if anyone has any pointers from their own experience.

Since they're plums, they can be fully dried after washing - there's no fuzzy coating to remain damp and invite spoilage.