ONE CRISP
MORNING
LAST AUTUMN,
Boschendal’s GM of agriculture, Jacques
du Toit, could be spotted hobbling
between two rows of plum trees. His
knee, fresh from surgery, was taking strain
as his farmer’s shoes sank into the soft,
mulch-covered soil. Walking alongside
him was Jannie Marais, South Africa’s
representative for Woolies’ exclusive plum
supplier The Custom Plum Company – a
joint venture between UK-based produce
supplier Mack, and local fruit-growing
company, Fruits Unlimited.
Each tree offered a merciful pit stop
as the two paused to inspect branch upon
branch of plump, dewy fruit. These aren’t
the kind of plums we grew up with, that’s
for sure. They’re larger, for one, but also
much sweeter; their flesh faintly redolent
of spring blossoms. Their evocative name
- Flavour Fall – is a nod to their autumnal
harvest time.
As any fruit farmer will tell you, plums
require a particular level of precision (and
a fair amount of pampering) to cultivate;
doubly so if they’re destined for premium
supermarkets, both here and abroad.
“The margin for error is extremely
small and the risk is very high,” explains
Jacques. An untimely bout of hail or fierce
gust of wind, for example, can relegate an
otherwise perfect specimen to the bottom
of the pile. And while bruised apples or
pears can still be salvaged for their juice,
the same can’t be said for plums. The
stress crescendos during harvest time,
when a plum picked in the wrong way
(the trick is to cradle it in your hand and
pull downwards, gently but firmly) or
dropped into a fruit picker’s basket from
too great a height, can be disastrous.
Consider then, for a second, the
anxiety of being forced – on doctor’s
orders – to sit out the first two weeks of
a harvest you’ve spent the better part of
11 months working towards. “I ended up
having to shout orders at everybodyover the walkie-talkie,” Jacques
remembers with a wry smile.
To put things into context, Jacques
has been a farmer for 20 years and has
never had a December holiday; he’s been
married for ten years and still hasn’t
gone on honeymoon. He’s as hands-on
as they come. Which is why, when he
should have still been at home recovering,
there he was, back at his post, limp
notwithstanding. The harvest was
still in full swing, after all.AS IS THE CASE WITH many large
industries, somewhere along the line,
the fruit-farming business evolved into a
rather competitive fruit-branding business.
Trademarked names and registered patents
have become signifiers for specific textures
and flavour profiles. Take the diminutive
Sweet Pixie, colloquially known as the
cherry plum, which will be making its
exclusive debut on Woolies’ shelves early
this year. Dainty and sweet with just a
hint of satisfying tartness, this interspecificBeautiful
blossoms signal
the bounty to
come in one
of the plum
orchards tended
by Jacques du Toit,
Boschendal’s GM
of Agriculture.102 TASTE JAN/FEB 2019
SEASONAL FRUIT