A Plethora of Plums

I should have started this blog last week when the ridiculous number of cherry trees on one of our walks was pointed out to me. All the years I've been going there and I never noticed them! I made cherry curd with the first lot (ooh that was good on scones with cream), and the remainder are going to be carefully drowned in brandy. Anyway, I didn't start there, so you'll have to make do with plums instead.

Today's amble took me round a local country park with Mum and Gran. I was as they say, 'going equipped'; armed with my trusty crook, several carrier bags, and two of the fastest pickers I know (you should see Gran move when she wants something).

We knew the plums were there from the last walk, and were hoping that they were ripe - we were not disappointed. Hanging like grapes, the weight of the fruit made the branches bend just enough to be tantalisingly out of reach. However, applying the crook and a bit of stretching got the fruit into our grasp and the fun began. It would really help if I put a picture here wouldn't it? I'll try to think about it next time I'm there!

There seem to be a mixture of plum varieties growing alongside and entwined around each other, which makes choosing the ripe ones a bit of a gamble at first. There are a few trees solely covered in the small yellow/orange, incredibly sweet ones (I wondered if they might be related to Mirabelles) then some with multihued fruit I think are Cherry plums Prunus cerasifera. These start off green but can ripen at any colour from that to deep red/purple, and even then can be quite tart. There's another bunch of trees on the other side of the park with currently all green fruit which look more like a traditional plum in size and shape, so will be keeping an eye on those too!
 

We used the squishiness of the plum as our guide to ripeness, and left quite a lot of fruit hanging - whether that be for other people, or our next visit remains to be seen! There's such an abundance of fruit and the trees are so tall there's no danger of stripping them bare.  We came away with a bagful each, and now I have to decide what to do with my share.
Whatever's left after playing cat'sbumface* roulette I suspect is going to be turned into plum jam, possibly with a hint of ginger, and maybe some chutney (which should be perfectly mature by the festive season). This is only because I currently have no need to make any more plum wine as yet, as I have many gallons of that (and damson wine) on the go from a visit to an old orchard last year!

The next trip out  in a few days time is to see if we can find some bilberries. There's a spot fairly close to home that used to have them. It may be a little early for the fruit to be ripe but we can at least find out if they still grow there. Failing that there are loads in the Peaks if you know where to look. I'll let you know!

*the face you make when eating something really sour