Plums and Berries

I just love this time of year. If anyone ever wants to come and visit us this is a good time to come. The end of summer/autumn fruit starts getting ripe in Aug sometime. It was an especially good year for blackberries and plums. The apples are almost ready and they are just beautiful on all the trees around. After that the pears will be ripening. We live close to the Vale of Evesham which is know as one of the best fruit growing areas in the country.

We have a plum tree in our back garden. I have no idea what type it is, I just know that they are cookers and not eaters. The tree is HUGE and the plums are small (about the size of a cherry tomato). They taste ok, slightly sharp, but the seed in the middle is as big as the soft fruit around it so they aren't very practical to eat. So this year, after telling myself I was NOT going to make jam or jelly or chutneys I just couldn't help it...so I have made two types of plum jam and I have oodles of more fruit in the freezer. The great thing is it is usually free if you can find the public places to pick it. I am so happy to say that I have found a foraging friend that will go out and pick with me. Anna and I have been friends for a while but just recently found out that we both like to do that sort of thing.

Of course it isn't all great-our plum tree is still dropping fruit! It has been about 3 weeks now and tons of it is coming down. Someone has to pick it all up because it falls in the dog run, between the decking and the shed, and on the wood decking that is starting to look soft and moldy. Mark got the gofer job this year, thank goodness, and he has been picking up rotting fruit for a long time now. He has been putting it in the compost bin, good in theory, but now we have a rotting fermenting ooze that is coming out the bottom of the bin. Hmmmm.

Hope I haven't bored you with my fruit comments-a minute ago Meg asked what I was doing and she said "you are so sad". Oh well, I love the fact that with a little effort you can collect and preserve the fruit to last you a very long time :)