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[Smokey 11a]

Oh well, Damson gin it is then!

Just as good.

[Porkscratching]

Damsons you're better off stewing them, letting them cool, then eating with cream...that's what we always did.
Gran used to make very nice damson jam too!

[Smokey 11a]

Spray Painted a LWB roof, longer arms needed 

[mrutty]

Oil change finished and turned it over. Now just going to wait for any leaks

[Seanofmacc]

I have sworn at it for the early part of the morning and cursed it since.
I have tried to show it love and that i care, but this thing hates me.
In the last 2 weeks replaced all the fuel system from filler to carb after the tank finally gave way. Might as well change the lot while in there.
Then the radiator got a pin hole in the top, the day the fuel system was completed, so replaced all the cooling system, rads, hose, pump, thermostat the lot as might as well whilst in there.
Took it out for a decent run in the sunshine, once the cooling system was repaired and the charge light came on !!!
As electrical things are something i avoid as I just cant get my head around it, have just ordered a reproduction RB106 which should arrive tomorrow and fingers crossed thats it, or replacement dynamo (still pos earth) to follow
hopefully running out of things to break now
Anyone want a radiator with good core but requires pin hole repair to header feel free to collect Cheshire

[agg221]

Sorry, wrong tree!

They look like sloes and the bush looked like a sloe bush but my wife said  they tasted sweet. I thought they were bitter?

 

Could be damsons as mentioned, whereabouts did you go camping - it provides a good clue as to the likely Prunus species.

Alec

[oddjob]

We were at the White Horse at Uffington on the Oxfordshire Wiltshire border.
I was going to call it Sloe Horse Gin. 

Here’s a pic. They’ve got stones in them.



Oops, it’s upside down?!

[Gareth]

Iv'e been away for 3 weeks. Got home, and needed to go to shops. 2a started first turn of the key. 

[Porkscratching]

We were at the White Horse at Uffington on the Oxfordshire Wiltshire border.
I was going to call it Sloe Horse Gin. 

Here’s a pic. They’ve got stones in them.



Oops, it’s upside down?!

I'd say definitely damsons..!

[agg221]

We were at the White Horse at Uffington on the Oxfordshire Wiltshire border.

I don't think they are damsons but they are something interesting.

Most damsons are a bit larger and slightly elongated. The only one which is spherical like that, and would be ready about now, is Merryweather but that is a much larger hybrid fruit. Damsons are also not what you would call sweet - it's the equivalent of biting in to a Bramley where there is a tartness and intensity of flavour which needs cooking to bring out.

They look (size and shape) like sloes but you would know one if you bit one - they are so astringent that they make your tongue curl up. They also resemble some of the bullace varieties but it is much too early for them to be anything like edible. We have Shepherd's bullace and that won't really be ready until late November.

I can't find any reference to local wild plum or damson varieties specifically in that area but if you could eat it raw then it must be one of some sort. It would be interesting to hear more on what it tastes like as that would narrow it down a bit as to whether it is a damson or some other form of plum hybrid. Also, was there a thicket of them or was it growing as an individual tree - helps establish whether it is hybrid with Prunus cerasifera.

As you may have gathered, I grow a lot of fruit :-)

Alec

[oddjob]

Hi Alec,
They were growing in a hedgerow. There were quite a lot of them scattered among other hedgerow plants along that stretch of road.
They taste like a plum and are sweet. Very edible raw although not a lot of fruit due to the stone in the middle.
Thanks for the help!

 

[Old Hywel]

....sweet, very edible, you say. Then they’re like no sloe I’ve ever encountered. Not so much sharp, or bitter, as the driest most mouth-shrivelling taste imaginable.

[agg221]

....sweet, very edible, you say. Then they’re like no sloe I’ve ever encountered. Not so much sharp, or bitter, as the driest most mouth-shrivelling taste imaginable.

Agreed. The closest experience you can get to eating a sloe is probably chewing a dry teabag!

Growing along a hedgerow suggests it suckers, which means it is probably not a Prunus cerasifera hybrid. I would guess it is a specific form of Prunus domestica but which one if it is even named is unclear. If it is sweet it may not have enough intensity to add a strong flavour to spirits, although being small there should be enough pigment from the skin to add a good colour. One way to deal with large numbers of stones - if you stew up plums with a bit of water in the bottom of the pan then you can get the stones to float to the surface and skim them off - works well for jam or chutney etc, including with damsons.

Sorry, this was the 'what have you done with your plums today' thread wasn't it?

Alec

[Porkscratching]

Loads of damsons in the hedgerows near where i work, probably left over from when they were cultivated many years ago,  the ones i know look exactly like the pics above, including the insides! They are sweet to eat raw off the tree right at the end of the season, we used to pick them and eat em when taking the horses out for rides!

[TimT]

Good morning
These are Bullace - a small round plum. My neighbour had one in their garden and its great for making jam or Bullace vodka/gin.
Tim