Plum (Prunus domestica)

I went out to Martinez to lend a hand in a backyard orchard. There were 22 fruit trees in total -- figs, peaches, plums, apples, persimmon, and probably others that I'm forgetting. My goal with these plums was to thin and reduce the explosion of water sprouts that had formed as a result of someone topping them in the past. These sprouts were shading out the fruiting spurs that plums actually form on and had reduced this years bounty of plums substantially; this is another great example of why topping trees is counterproductive. I tried one of the few plums I saw on these trees and it was, with no exaggeration, the best plum I'd ever had.