People who know me (even just a little bit) know that the last place I'm ever going to be found heading towards is the gym........but I do like walking, & apart from the general fitness thing of walking, & the fact that it's always good for sorting my head out, one of the best things about it is that I see stuff. Sometimes it's cats, wildlife, amazing plant specimens in the most unusual places.....& sometimes, that best of all things - FREE STUFF!! I do enjoy a bit of foraging, but this little find didn't even require the special plastic bag or knife to come out, or risking life & limb against wasps, nettles or plummeting headlong into a ditch. No, these lovelies were simply sitting at the boundary of a villager's garden next to a blackboard chalked with the enticing message- "Free windfall cherries".
Oooooooh! Fab or what? My only problem was that they didn't look like cherries. My Nan had a cherry tree in her garden & the cherries were a much brighter red & shinier. Took some home with me, anyway, to investigate. As soon as I'd cut one open, it was obvious they were wild plums, slightly sourer than the large cultivated varieties, but not remotely jaw-clenchingly so like sloes & bullaces.
Having put aside a saucerful for baking into cinnamon & plum muffins, I cooked some into compote & froze it for topping Autumn porridge. The remaining kilo has been halved, stoned & frozen where it will wait for our apple crop, ready to be turned into spiced wild plum & apple chutmey for Christmas. So no cherries, but I'm not going to turn my nose up at 4 lbs of wild plums & will walk that way again in case there is more free bounty! Thank-you unknown person with the free fruit & friendly blackboard.
Albert Whiskers is making the most of the between-showers summer sunshine.
His 2nd best spot (when my deckchair is unavailable) is this sunny gap at the back of one of my big flower borders......it's not a great photo as the shadows were wrong, & I only have my phone camera, but AW fans will just be able to make out his supine form behind the plants. He's been trying it on a bit with food fussiness this last week. The Big Hairy Half of the Relationship (who is generally in charge of cat feeding) has countered this by only feeding him half a pouch at a time. AW is then so utterly shocked at the titchy size of his dinner that he gobbles it in one & demands the other half immediately. This little rip-off tactic seems to have nipped a season of food silliness in the bud, anyway, I'm pleased to say, as we aim to be a zero food waste household & that extends to cats.
Hope everyone is seeing at least a few rays of sunshine today.
Until next time,
C x
These small plums are known as 'Cherry Plums'according to Alys Fowler in her book 'The Thrifty Forager'. I have just made very successful plum jam with some I foraged.
ReplyDeleteI have that book too! Just looked them up. Never heard the term 'cherry plums' before. I shall have to walk that way again & see if there are any more for some jam, though I mustn't be greedy, as I will have a few greengages from our own garden & usually make jam with those.
DeleteThey make fantastic jam - I picked a mix of yellow & red & the jam is a lovely rich colour & tastes almost as good as the apricot jam I made last month.
DeleteFab post, wish I lived closer. Hoping you'll share your chutney recipe.
ReplyDeleteYes, if you lived just that bit closer, I'd have dropped you a pot of them off. Happy to share chutney recipe which is from an old book I've had for years.....if I can find it! have you tried jam-making yet? The blackberries seem good this year, so with a bit of bramley apple, that's be a good one to do......& it's yum on crumpets.
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