Like everything else this weird weather year, California's plum crop is running late.

A little banged up from rare May (and even June!) hailstorms, plums and Pluots in the Central Valley came through relatively unscathed and soon will fill market bins and backyard trees.

"The spring was just so cool," said Gary Van Sickle of the California Plum Marketing Board in Reedley. "Basically, everything is off 10 to 14 days and will stay that way all summer."

The good news?

"We normally see a drop-off in September, but this year we'll have plenty of plums clear into early October," he added. "One of the benefits of this long, slow spring is the size of the fruit. It's had so much more time on the tree, the fruit is a lot bigger."

The crop should be about the same size as last year with prices holding steady, too.

"We actually had pretty good weather during pollination in late February and early March," Van Sickle said. "Then, things turned cooler than usual. The hail knicked up the fruit, but other than that, we came out OK."

About 95 percent of the nation's fresh plums are grown in Central California, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley. Same goes for Pluots and plumcots, hybrid crosses between plums and apricots that are rising in popularity.

Plums are a traditional summer favorite for good reason: They're a naturally sweet, low-calorie, no-fat food. Each variety is available for about two weeks, but new extra-early or extra-late varieties have extended plum season to more than five months.

The nation's dried plums – about 99 percent – come from the Central Valley, too, primarily grown in the Sacramento Valley in Butte, Yuba and Sutter counties.

"We also account for about half of the world's supply of dried plums," said Rich Peterson, executive director of the California Dried Plum Board in Sacramento.

About 130 varieties of plums are grown commercially in California, but only four or five are sweet enough to make good dried plums, a.k.a. prunes, Peterson noted. Almost all of the state's dried plum crop – harvested mid-August to mid-September – comes from one variety: French Improved. It's a descendent of a variety first brought to California during the Gold Rush.

The dried plum crop will be about 122,000 tons, down about 4 percent, Peterson said.

"That surprised a lot of people. We thought it would be the same as last year. But the weather was just too cool and wet. We had hail and tornadoes in California! Who could have predicted that? It all takes its toll."

At the industry's peak in 2000, 86,000 Valley acres were planted in prune plums. That's fallen about a third to 58,000 acres last year. Fresh plum acreage dropped about 30 percent to 26,000 acres as ranchers switched to nuts or more-profitable crops.

Plum popularity may be back on an upswing. Recent research showed that plums have higher levels of antioxidants and cancer-fighting compounds than blueberries. They could be the next "superfood."

"Plums have so many different health benefits," Van Sickle said. "We're seeing some exciting components coming out of this research."

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