This year, for the first time, our damson tree has cropped. This seems to have been the best year for growing stone fruit in ages - the crop is enormous.
About six years ago we planted a number of fruit trees in the field close to the house. We had great expectations, some of which were fulfilled almost immediately, while others were slower in coming (literally) to fruition.
This year, for the first time, our damson tree has cropped. This seems to have been the best year for growing stone fruit in ages - the crop is enormous. Just today we were harvesting damsons, filling trugs to the brim with soft, superbly tasty fruits. It was worth the wait - we collected several kilos of the best damsons I’ve ever tasted. We all ate far too many on the way back to the house.
The jam making, stewing and eating in the raw will happen tomorrow, but I’ve stored some in the freezer too. I'll use the frozen fruits when I make my first batch of damson gin. This is rather like making sloe gin, but requires a slightly less scary quantity of sugar. Meanwhile, the plum trees - some still laden with ripening fruits - have had to have yet more props installed beneath some of the weightier loads. I've never known a year like it. But that’s just one of the many great things about gardening: there's an element of control (or we like to think there is!) ... but in reality, the weather and Mother Nature have far greater influence than we do.
And while the stone fruits are doing so well, an awful lot of us have had almost non-existent crops on unusually miserable-looking squash plants. Shame the glut recipes are not a bit more interchangeable... ever tried damson soup, or roasted damson tart?
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