Stop 10: Plums and Grapes

Blossoming Plum Trees.

NPS Photo.

Transcript for the John Muir NHS Cell Phone Tour

Stop Number 10

To your left are several varieties of plum trees, including Santa Rosa and Cherry Plums. If it’s July, stroll into the orchard and pick up a sweet treat from the ground. Please don’t climb the trees or pick fruit. The ripe plums and the sweetest ones are already on the ground. Don’t let a blemish or some easily brushed off dirt stop you from enjoying this delicious fruit.

On the right, the short, bushy vines are grapes. The Muirs grew both wine and table grapes, but they did not make wine on the ranch. The three varieties you see before you (Tokay, Muscat and Zinfandel) were planted in the 1970’s by Muir’s grandson. Muir was very discerning about which grapes should be grown on the ranch. Here is what he had to say about one of the varieties he removed:

“The Mission Vine, the first planted in California, is a good table grape, but a poor wine grape and brings a very low price for either table or wine. The Padres ought to have known better – such good judges they were in most things relating to the stomach.”