Plumb Line

Around this time of year, you might find subtle clues as to the location of highly forage-able fruit, such as Wild Plums, Mirabelles, Damsons, Cherry Plumbs & Greengages.

These tasty plumbs are best eaten straight off the tree. Although they come in many varieties and colours, you can tell they a ripe when they will fall lightly into your hand, just as you touch them.

Quite apart from the juicy joy of immediately eating these beauties, they can also be turned into pies, chutney, wine, puddings, jam and hundreds of other delightful things.

I tend to eat as I go along during my lunchtime wanderings, then I pick a bunch and take them home for the family to enjoy.

Cherry Plums

As I cycled to work the other day, I spotted a load of squashed plums, fallen on the foot path. The tree overhead was hanging down heavily laden with hundreds of delicious looking small (Cherry) Plums.

Closer inspection revealed that there was actually about four different trees, each sporting different colour Plums and each at a different stage of ripeness.

When fully ripe, plums will drop, obligingly, into the waiting palm of your hand at the slightest of tugs. If they are stubborn to remove, they will taste more tart, which is OK for cooking but they will ripen quickly on the branch.

I quickly stuffed a couple of ripe ones in my mouth as I zoomed past, they burst with a delicate juicy flavour; it had rained heavily the night before, so although small - they were fully plumped.

I returned on foot during my lunch hour and scoffed several more of these juicy beauties. I filled a bag to take home to the family and now return each day to grab a few more to see me through the day. The yellow ones have become house favourites and my daughter tells me, proudly, that she ate 23 of them yesterday!

Meanwhile, in other fruit and nut based news...

• Ripe Blackberries have been spotted in the hedgrows, so it is probably time to get a little gang together and start rummaging around on the commons and parks armed with suitable containers.
• Hazlenuts will soon be ready for picking too. The squirrels have been nibbling at the green ones already and by the end of the summer holidays they will be dropping of their own accord.

It is going to be a bumper year, no doubt about it. So be prepared, check out the falling fruit map (don't forget to add your own discoveries) get outside and get picking!

Plum Picking

When we first arrived at our current house, about 5 years ago, I was disappointed by the fact that the front garden had previously been replaced by an ugly concrete parking slab. The whole concept of converting gardens into parking for cars is anathema to me and I was determined to reclaim some of the original front garden. Eventually we found the resources to build a low wall, fill it with earth and plant some nice flowers, we also planted a small Cherry tree in the midst of the lush shrubbery.

This year our endeavours were proved worthwhile and we were rewarded with a decent harvest of very large delicious cherries, just as the other trees in the neighbourhood were running low on stocks.

Our allotment is also bearing fruit. The Tayberry bush was coming through with masses of huge flavoursome goodies, which I had to virtually fight the children over. The Blueberries are looking good too.

I have finally found time to bottle my batch of Elderflower champagne. I only hope that I have left it long enough, I don’t want a repeat of last year’s kitchen based fountain feature! I corked and caged the recycled bottles quite securely. It started off an opaque opal white but in a few days it soon settled down to be crystal clear.

During my lunch hour walks, I spotted a true abundance of plums and, upon closer inspection, it was apparent that some were already ripe. The purple/red fruit literally fell into my palm as I touched them, so I grabbed a couple of handfuls and scoffed them as I explored further in the area.

I have checked out the local trees, and I will shortly organise a Plum Picking Picknik. This will possibly be combined with a collaborative jam/chutney making workshop. If this idea sounds like the sort of day you would enjoy, keep a close eye on the Urbane Forager blog as it is likely to be announced at fairly short notice! 

I Predict a Picknik

I don’t normally like to make predictions but it is looking like a great Summer for produce. Possibly this is due to the replenished water table and the warmth of spring. 

There still are loads of Cherries and I have already noticed an abundance of Plums, Hazelnuts and young Apples.

When the fruit comes, it tends to come all at once, often there is simply too much to deal with. We have had learned about preservation and storing of the excess that we always get. 

You can get far greater yields by working out what to do, where to go, and by utilising the freezer better.

Plums are going to be a case in point soon; there are loads growing and I have already picked my first ripe ones of the year. 

Plums taste great and can be eaten straight off the trees, of course. They can also be used to make chutney, jam, wine, pies, prunes and a myriad of other things.

I think we will need to organise a Cherry Plum Picknik, in a couple of weeks. 

Everyone can come and fill their boots, or possibly a basket or bicycle pannier. Actually, seeing as there are so many in the trees, a car with a decent trailer might be more appropriate. More details soon-don't touch that dial!

At the allotment, our Tayberry bush went into overdrive. We have been eating them straight off the bush, out of the fridge, and with ice cream. I have also added a good load to a Kilner jar filled with gin! I confidently predict that this will become a favourite delicious Summer tipple.

The Blackberries are lining up for a good year too and I have already seen an abundance of flowers as well as plenty of unripe green berries.

Apples Hazelnuts, Plump Plums and Butterflies

It was lunchtime, so I thought I’d go for a leisurely jog about the area to see how the apples and Hazelnuts were ripening up.

It didn’t take long before I saw the tell-tale clue of squirrel snacking; they had been nibbling away at the green hazelnuts, while the shells were still soft.

I also picked up a few brown shelled nuts, a sure sign that fresh ripe nuts are only a week or so away and we still have some left from our last year’s mammoth horde.

When I reached the apple trees, some looked a little battered by the wettest Summer on record for 100 years. Last night was also the coldest August night on record; not ideal conditions for fruit.

although some trees have not fared well, other apples looked quite fine and a few were already dropping the odd windfall fruit.

I continued further along my route and discovered a couple of yellow/orange plum trees by the roadside and then turned into some woodland.

In the dappled shade my eye was caught by a pair of playful butterflies. I tracked their fluttering forms, hoping to catch a nice photo and when the alighted on a small tree I seized the opportunity to get closer.

It was only as I closed, stealthily, on my intended prey that I realised that they had settled on a plum tree.

They had come to have a quick snack of fresh plum juice. The plums were gigantic and succulent, so I thought that I might as well have a couple too, while I was there…