Beach Plum & Other Fruit
Beach plum (Prunus maritima) is a conspicuous native shrub of coastal plant communities in the northeastern United States because of its prolific bloom in the spring, prized fruit in the autumn, and perseverance in a seemingly hostile environment. The plums are rarely eaten raw, but their tartness gives jam and jelly a distinctive taste. Jelly production from wild beach plum fruit persists as a cultural tradition in coastal communities from Maine to North Carolina. The shrub is also used for dune stabilization, landscape and other
conservation programs.
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Rick has been familiar with beach plum since his childhood on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. He started studying beach plum in 1997 at Cornell University, developing this species as a commercial crop. He conducted research on beach plum’s propagation and cultivation, as well as fruit quality selection. Seaberry Farm currently has a three-acre beach plum orchard.