What We Grow: Beach Plum

Beach Plum on Branch Beach plum (Prunus maritime Marsh) 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.

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 four-acre beach plum orchard, including some with rare yellow fruits. In addition to fresh and frozen fruit, we also have homemade beach plum jam, jelly and other preserve products. In addition to our plans to expand the orchard, we have started a beach plum nursery from which we sell grafted beach plum plants for orchard production as well as landscape use plants.