“Prunelaie” owned by Sifroy Guéret dit Dumont

The word “prunelaie” is a French word that refers to an orchard planted exclusively with plum trees. The prunelaie located in Saint-André de Kamouraska is perhaps the first one to have been situated on the Côte-du-Sud. Planted in the mid-1800s, it is now, in the 21st century, the last known prunelaie in the region. Isn’t that amazing?

Sifroy Guéret dit Dumont (1813-1881)

Sifroy Guéret dit Dumont (1813-1881), a merchant with quite a thriving business, drew inspiration from the experience of Amable Morin in Saint-Roch-des-Aulnaies. In 1840, he built a combination house and store in Saint-André that was identical to that owned by Morin. He then planted no less than 1,000 plum trees in the shelter of a small mountain and his house. This orchard contained Blue and Yellow damson plums as well as Lombard plums. Dumont also grew a few apple, pear, cherry, crab apple and serviceberry trees.

City dwellers loved Damson plums Barrels of plums and apples were shipped throughout the fall to Quebec City.

A typical shop in Quebec City’s Lower Town, ca. 1930. Note the barrels of apples.

The Saint-André plum orchard has been in existence for over 100 years. When the estate was acquired by the DeBlois-Martin family in 1974, the orchard was in survival mode. From 1978 onwards, the entire family worked hard to revive the plum orchard. Their efforts led to the creation of La Maison de la prune.