A fruit that dates back 2,000 years
Excerpt from Paul-Louis Martin’s account, August 2017
Directed by Martin Morais
Collection Musée de la mémoire vivante
How long have people grown Damson plums? The answer may surprise you, and yet this fruit is as young and fresh as ever.
TRANSCRIPT
[Paul-Louis Martin is sitting at a table in the former grain shed, which is now an interpretation centre on the history of fruit growing and La Maison de la prune. He says:]
It’s a fruit that’s almost as old as Jesus Christ; it is mentioned by Pliny in his Natural History in the year 79 AD; it was introduced by Champlain and the Recollect fathers.
So, you can’t let it disappear.
This marked the beginning of the adventure of La Maison de la prune. Well, we got started in ‘79, ’80. We said to ourselves that our children were all grown up. So, we restored the original orchards. We planted 1,000 plum trees.