Fruit glut - plums and blackberries!

Latest Articles

Fruit glut - plums and blackberries!
Page 1, 2 Next

Downsizer Forum Index -> Foraging

Author

Message

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 05 1:45 pm Post subject: Fruit glut - plums and blackberries!

Went off in search of plums yesterday; gosh, but it's another great wild plum harvest. Picked a good stone of cherry plums, many of which are now jam, some more are also on their way to being wine, with some little yellow ones sitting on the table to eat, and more waiting to become chutney (another use for courgettes too!).

Also got the first blackberries of the year; a couple of pounds, no more. A lovely accompaniment for the raspberries (alas, from a pick your own farm, 'tourist foraging' - most of the raspberries are now also jam, and ice cream).

I do like many wild foods; I eat plenty of mushrooms, greens, and shellfish, but my first love as a forager is fruit. Always has been. Nothing really beats wild blackberries.

ken69

Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 316
Location: Norfolk

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 05 2:39 pm Post subject: foraging
Hi Cab..this is my first year of foraging since retiring..already identified hazelnut site,egg plums, sloes and Newton apples, also loadsa blackberries and, cherries are almost over now.All legal, not really into mushrooms.Are acorns,when they come ,useful. Otherwise grow own veg.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 05 3:23 pm Post subject: Re: foraging

ken69 wrote:

Hi Cab..this is my first year of foraging since retiring..already identified hazelnut site,egg plums, sloes and Newton apples, also loadsa blackberries and, cherries are almost over now.All legal, not really into mushrooms.Are acorns,when they come ,useful. Otherwise grow own veg.

Hi Ken. Yeah, you can eat acorns in moderation, they're kind of bitter though. You can grind them up to a meal and use them like ground nuts, or they can be roasted for a coffee substitute. I've used them for various things (look about online, you'll find plenty of recipes), but they're not to my tastes.

You're doing well for your first year foraging!

nettie

Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 5888
Location: Suffolk

Posted: Sun Jul 24, 05 10:37 pm Post subject:
Can vouch for the plums, cab, 20lb later and I've given up - the freezer is bulging! They're going to be turned into alcoholic Xmas pressies Shame the mushies aren't as prolific this year.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Jul 25, 05 7:22 am Post subject:

nettie wrote:

Shame the mushies aren't as prolific this year.

It's early yet. Give 'em time.

daniel

Joined: 01 Jan 2005
Posts: 21
Location: Woodford Green, Essex

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 05 10:54 pm Post subject:
I plan to give mushroom hunting a serious go this year. I've been on my bike a lot and have plenty of free time AND have a leaflet on mushrooms in Epping forest so why not. My eyes are also peeled for plums and blackberries but i dont think the blackberries are quite ready yet.

Jonnyboy

Joined: 29 Oct 2004
Posts: 23956
Location: under some rain.

Posted: Wed Jul 27, 05 10:59 pm Post subject:
My local plum tree is way off ripe, the backberries will be late august at the earliest.

kevsterjw

Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 14

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 05 7:51 am Post subject:
i'm waiting for the nush as the back of my garden to ripen i thought it was blackberry but a coupke have turned pink so i'm guessing its raspberry's!! most are green still and i'm off on holiday for two weeks at the weekend so i hope they don't come ripe whuile i'm away.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Thu Jul 28, 05 7:55 am Post subject:

kevsterjw wrote:

i'm waiting for the nush as the back of my garden to ripen i thought it was blackberry but a coupke have turned pink so i'm guessing its raspberry's!! most are green still and i'm off on holiday for two weeks at the weekend so i hope they don't come ripe whuile i'm away.

Blackberries turn pink before they go black. The easy way to tell is the new stems; on raspberries they're pale green and a little spiky, on blackberries they're darker and spikier.

kevsterjw

Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 14

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 05 9:41 am Post subject:
didn't know that cheers. I've got a file full of blacberry resipies ready for them!!

judith

Joined: 16 Dec 2004
Posts: 22790
Location: Montgomeryshire

Posted: Fri Jul 29, 05 9:47 am Post subject:

cab wrote:

Blackberries turn pink before they go black. The easy way to tell is the new stems; on raspberries they're pale green and a little spiky, on blackberries they're darker and spikier.

I've just realised that we have a patch of wild raspberries in Compost Corner. Unfortunately the blackbirds realised it first, so there isn't a lot left.

I am really starting to go off blackbirds

joanne

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 7100
Location: Morecambe, Lancashire

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 05 10:15 am Post subject:

Well I'm feeling really really pleased with myself - Went to the Dandie Club Committee Meeting yesterday and in the hotel where we have the meeting was a plum tree laden down with ripe fruit plus loads all over the floor - quick convo with the owner - I now have more plums than I know what to do with.

Made a lovely plum streusel tart last night but am interested in Cab's plum and courgette chutney he mentioned (any poss of a recipe Cab?)

Also will be making wine and jam tonight - However have one question anyone got an easy way of getting the pesky stones out ?

Joanne

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 05 10:34 am Post subject:

jocorless wrote:

I'll dig the recipe out later. Remind me if I forget.

The wine... Don't worry about the stones, put the plums in a straining bag, pour on the hot water and sugar and what have you, along with some enzyme when it cools, and squeeze them a few days later. When you come to remove the pulp and stones in the bag, how little there is left in there will surprise you.

twoscoops

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 1924
Location: Warwickshire

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 05 10:41 am Post subject:
Have a huge supply of brambles in field out back. Bramble jelly – just like jam, but no pips. Great. Ice cream Sorbet Cordial Steeped liqueur Cheesecake Plums – Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls’s sweet & sour damson dipping sauce. Maybe this weekend.

cab

Joined: 01 Nov 2004
Posts: 32429

Posted: Mon Aug 15, 05 9:12 pm Post subject:

Plum chutney...

Take 4lb of plums, stew them to a pulp and put through a colander to get the stones out. Be thorough, you want all the flesh, so if need be put the stones in another pan with some water and boil them.

Dice up about 3lb of courgettes, 2lb of onions and 2lb of raisins, and some good hard apples (8 or so), maybe even a few hard carrots if you have them. Put that all in with the plums, and add in a pound of dark muscovado sugar and a pound of white sugar. Add some vinegar, basically till it balances out the sugar, something in the region of 2-3 pints depending on how sharp the plums are. Make up a spice bag (nutmeg, mace, chilli, coriander seeds, ginger, peppercorns, cumin seeds, throw the spice rack at it!). Toss it all in the pan and boil it gently for anything between an hour and three, till it's thick and rich; put some on a plate and put it in the fridge, it won't set but you'll see how it looks when it's cooling.

Bottle as for any preserve.

	Downsizer Forum Index -> Foraging	All times are GMT Page 1, 2 Next
Page 1 of 2

View Latest Posts