Strzelce Dolne · Lower Vistula Valley

Plum landscape of the Lower Vistula

The same orchard in two colours: the white of blossom in spring, the violet of the fruit in September. Below is the kettle’s circle seen from above: in the model, from three parts of fruit one part of plum butter remains (a proportion from a description carried over from V1, unchecked).

Kettle seen from above — diagram of the 3-to-1 balance A circle with an area of three parts represents the fruit. The dark centre, with an area of one third, is the plum butter. The ring around the centre, with an area of two thirds, is the loss of mass. The copper rim and the wooden stirrer are elements of the illustration.
The kettle’s circle from above. Our own drawing (a diagram, not a photograph of a kettle, not a document). The area of the whole circle is 3 parts of fruit, the dark centre is 1 part of plum butter, the ring is 2 parts of loss (a model assumption: water and stones, the share of each unknown).
Orchard in two colours — schematic panorama The upper half of the drawing shows a row of trees with white blossom against hills. The lower half is the same layout mirrored vertically, with trees bearing violet fruit. The line in the middle is a copper horizon. The drawing does not show any particular orchard.
Orchard in two colours. Our own drawing (a diagram, not a map and not a photograph). Top: April–May, the white of blossom. Bottom: the same layout mirrored, September, the violet of the fruit. The mirroring is a graphic device; the drawing does not document any particular orchard in Strzelce Dolne.

Two seasons, one horizon

White in spring, violet in autumn

The two halves of the panorama describe two seasons of work in the orchard. They are linked by the fruit, which is first a flower and then plum butter.

April–May

White

In spring it is the blossom that shapes the landscape. According to V2, the State Forests (Lasy Państwowe) count plum blossom among the heralds of spring changes in Polish nature (not checked against the source).

The timing depends on how the growing season unfolds, not on a calendar date, so this page gives no day for the blossom. Link from V2 (to be checked): State Forests.

September

Violet

In autumn the landscape fills with the dark violet fruit of the Węgierka Zwykła plum, and in Strzelce Dolne the work at the kettle begins. According to V2, plum butter cooking demonstrations have been part of the Plum Festival (Święto Śliwki) since 2001 (not checked against the source).

According to V2, the organiser describes how Jan Iwanowski’s idea was taken up by housewives from Strzelce Dolne (not checked against the source). Check the date with the organiser. Link from V2 (to be checked): Plum Festival.

Mass balance · a model, not a measurement

From three parts of fruit, one part of plum butter

A description carried over from V1 (after material from the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, MRiRW) speaks of 3 kg of fruit per 1 kg of plum butter, with no added sugar. The drawing keeps a single scale: the area of the circle is proportional to the mass of the fruit. Change the mass or the jar and see what changes.

Without JavaScript, the drawing and the figures show an example of 15 kg of fruit and 200 g jars. The proportion is fixed: from every 3 kg of fruit, 1 kg of plum butter remains and 2 kg is loss.

15.00 kg of fruit makes approx. 5.00 kg of plum butter (loss 10.00 kg): 25 full jars of 200 g, with no remainder.

Circle area proportional to the mass of the fruit The violet circle is the mass of the fruit, and the dark centre is one third of its area, that is, the plum butter. The dashed circles correspond to 25, 50 and 100 kg of fruit on the same scale. The numerical values are given in the text alongside.
  • Violet: fruit, area proportional to mass.
  • Dark centre: plum butter, always 1/3 of the fruit area. The ring between them is the loss: water and stones (a model assumption), with no split, because the material does not give one.
  • Dashed circles: 25, 50 and 100 kg of fruit on the same scale. This is the scale of the drawing, not the capacity of a kettle.
Fruit
15.00 kg
Plum butter (1/3)
5.00 kg
Loss (2/3)
10.00 kgwater and stones are a model assumption, share unknown
Full jars
25of 200 g
Remainder
0 gno partly filled jar
Fruit per jar
0.60 kga full jar at nominal capacity

Each mark is one jar; a partly filled mark is the remainder. At most 60 jars are shown.

Model assumptions and what is not here

  • The model is linear: plum butter = fruit / 3. The mass of the fruit includes the stones, because they go into the loss. The range of 1–100 kg follows from the drawing, not from the size of a kettle.
  • A jar is filled to its nominal capacity in grams. The sizes of 200, 330 and 500 g are the user’s choice, not an element of tradition.
  • The mass of the fruit is entered in steps of 0.1 kg (the field and the slider share the same step); a value with finer precision, e.g. 15.33 kg, gives no result and is not rounded silently. Rounding: kilograms to 0.01, the remainder to 1 g. Plum butter and loss add up to the mass of the fruit on the display.
  • Removed from V2: a conventional loss time and a comparison of the vessel with sugar. The source gives neither an evaporation rate nor a cooking time, so there is nothing to base them on.

The fruit’s path · state of the evidence

Four moments of a batch that is not in the material

We have no label, no harvest date and no conversation with a farm. The four moments therefore describe the tradition and the product description, not a particular batch. Each field has a status, so that it is visible where the source ends and where a model or a gap begins.

  • Description carried over from V1/V2 (unchecked) — content from the V1/V2 material, not compared with the source
  • Model — an assumption of this page
  • No material — the field is deliberately empty

The button highlights the fields for which there is no material.

  1. Moment 1 of 4

    Harvesting ripe fruit

    Tradition

    Description carried over from V1/V2 (unchecked)

    September in Strzelce Dolne: the harvest of Węgierka Zwykła plums and the Plum Festival (Święto Śliwki) with cooking demonstrations (the organiser’s description, link below).

    Specification requirement

    Description carried over from V1/V2 (unchecked)

    Ripe Węgierka Zwykła plums, according to the MRiRW description carried over from V1/V2. To be checked in the document itself.

    Producer’s practice

    No material

    It is not known from which orchard, when and in what quantity the fruit was picked.

  2. Moment 2 of 4

    Separating the stones on a ceramic sieve

    Tradition

    Description carried over from V1/V2 (unchecked)

    The stones were separated on ceramic sieves; the description points to potters from Gruczno on the Vistula (the List of Traditional Products, according to V2).

    Specification requirement

    No material

    The material provided does not show whether the sieve is a requirement of the specification. We do not settle this.

    Producer’s practice

    No material

    It has not been checked whether, and how, sieves are used on any farm today.

  3. Moment 3 of 4

    Thickening in a copper kettle

    Tradition

    Description carried over from V1/V2 (unchecked)

    A copper kettle (kuprowy) and a wooden stirrer, thickening by evaporation. According to V2, cooking demonstrations in Strzelce Dolne since 2001.

    Specification requirement

    No material

    It has not been settled whether the material of the kettle is a requirement of the specification. That is why V3 does not assess the vessel’s “compliance”.

    Producer’s practice

    No material

    The time, temperature and way of working of a particular producer are unknown. The page gives no cooking time.

  4. Moment 4 of 4

    A jar with a batch label

    Tradition

    Model

    V1/V2 do not give jar sizes. The capacities of 200, 330 and 500 g in the balance are the user’s choice.

    Specification requirement

    Description carried over from V1/V2 (unchecked)

    3 kg of fruit per 1 kg of plum butter, with no added sugar (MRiRW description according to V2). This is the only figure used in the balance model.

    Producer’s practice

    No material

    The label of a particular batch, the harvest date, the mass of the input and the name of the farm: no material. The field stays empty, because an invented batch would be false.

Documentation

Limits, visiting and sources

How to view an orchard

  • The blossom panorama is best viewed from public roads and viewpoints.
  • Entering the rows of trees in a private orchard requires the owner’s permission.
  • Buying fruit or plum butter outside the event requires contacting the producer beforehand.
  • Check the date of the Plum Festival (Święto Śliwki) with the organiser. This page is not a calendar and does not mark out routes through plantations.

What this page does not know

  • It does not know a particular batch, farm or label. There are no photographs here: the drawings are our own diagram.
  • It does not know what part of the loss is water and what part is stones. It is neither zero nor a half.
  • It does not settle which local products have PGI status (ChOG), or whether the kettle and the sieve are a requirement of the specification.
  • The order of separating the stones and thickening does not follow from the material provided; the order of the moments is narrative.
  • The links below were carried over from V2 and were not opened when this version was built. They need checking.

What disappeared from V2 and why

  • Season switch: replaced by a single panorama showing both seasons at once.
  • Loss time and vessel comparison: dropped, because the material gives no standard.
  • Visit checker with drop-down lists: cut down to the four rules alongside.
  • Observation diary in the browser: dropped; there is no portrait of the farm in the material, so the field stays empty.
  • Photograph of the fruit from an external server: removed, because it had to be loaded from the network.

Sources to check