Foraging for hedgerow fruit. How to identify wild (cherry) plums, bullaces and wild damsons
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Fruit | 53 comments
Finally I got fed up with the bully at work.
I threw down my brush, jumped into Jalopy and we rumbled towards my old hedgerow fruit hunting grounds. I was out for lunch half an hour early but what the heck. I can make up the time at the end of the day when the bully has gone home.
I had a suspicion that things were not right hedgerow-wise. I pulled up beside my main hunting ground, grabbed an old carrier bag and discovered that the trees were bare. Industrial hedge trimmers had hacked the branches. I gazed dismayed at yards of naked bare twigs. I scrambled into the woods and looked up. Nothing, apart from a handful of unripe fly infested fruit. Jalopy and I motored to the secret spot where I normally find plump juicy bullaces. It took me a few minutes to find some. They were tiny, only a few ripening, at least a month early.
Jalopy nosed towards the secondary hunting stretch. The same ripped branches. Hedge trimmer had visited shortly before.
Two years ago I found a tree covered with deep red succulent wild plums, also known as cherry plums. These were the Veuve Cliquot of wild plums in our area. Over a two week period I gathered 26 lbs of fruit from this small tree. Last year someone discovered this tree before me.
I decided to drive past it today. Joy of joys, it was heavy with fruit. Jalopy waited patiently as I harvested a carrier bag full. Lovely sweet fruit with a sharp edge. Perfect for our chutney or damson cheese. And they were ripe and ready to pick (when do you know when hedgerow fruit is ready to pick? See Tricks and tips below). Suddenly the sun shone gloriously for me.
The picture above shows, right to left, a wild (cherry) plum, bullace and a wild damson. The latter will ripen to a dark red/back colour. The bullace is usually much bigger and plumper and is just like a small greengage. Wild plums are not a standard size, this is a large and particularly delicious one from my favourite tree.
Tricks and tips:
When do you know when hedgerow fruit is ready to pick?
This is easy and so heartening. When the fruit is ready to pick you just need to touch the fruit and it will fall into your hand. Picking with the gentlest touch.
You can pick unripe fruit and it will ripen in a bowl at home. I found unripe damsons today and as they are so rare, picked them to ripen on a windowsill. However they are at their best ripened on the tree.
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Hi Plumsource,
If you can take a photo you can email me through the contact us page. If I can’t identify the fruit there are a lot of regulars on the site who will be able to do this. Mirabelles and bullaces would need different types of treatment if you are going to turn them into preserves.
Mirabelle plums are very tart. The bullaces that we pick around here are closely akin to the greengage so are very sweet.
Hi again
Any tips for identifying whether I’ve picked Mirabelles or bullaces? We have a few trees in our hedgerow here in mid wales. The one’s I’ve picked are definitely green but some of the others I noticed on nearby trees – v high up are definitely more of an apricot yellow colour. I first thought they were mirabelles and feel a bit of a wally as I told the farmer that this morning but looking at your pic above, think they’re bullaces. Any recommendations for good books / sites with pictures to identify?
I spose I can still go ahead with my jam making whichever they are?
Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
I can’t offer an explanation but this has happened to me in the past. I have found new places to forage by walking in other areas. We have lots of wild (cherry) plums around here (Suffolk/Cambridgeshire border) but you can only easy see the plums on foot or on a bike.
I noted the spring blossom this year and now have a map of possible hunting grounds within 20 minutes of the cottage.
I went to my usual damson foraging spot in East Kent, last week only to discover that the bushes which last year, were heavy with luscious fruit, were completely bare. There are only ever two fruiting bushes amongst a group of several in this area but none of the others have produced any fruit either. There is no evidence of hedge trimmers or any other damage to the bushes.
Does anyone have any possible explanation for the disappearing damsons? I can’t recall any sharp frosts at all this Spring (remember April?) and some other contributors to this site, seem to have collected a bumper harvest this year.
Looks as if I’ll miss my usual jam and gin !
Hi Hogbear,
If I was you I would ask the older people (60 ) on the common at the risk of appearing totally mad. They will know whether the fruit is edible or not. They will have lived through the post war times when everything that was edible was eaten.
My parents were posted to Germany, just after WW2. Most gardens had been dug up and dedicated to growing vegetables and fruit. So older people would know if the cherries are edible. If you are too shy to ask, librarians are generally very approachable. Again, chose an older one at a quiet time of day, well away from the checkout section.
Incidentally, we have great blackberry and rosehip recipes on this site.
Hi Sheena,
We both are right. I have only just discovered there are 2,000 different types of plums. There are several bullaces amongst these 2,000 varieties. They are sometimes black, white or green. I have made bullace vodka with bullaces from Kent (small and black) and also from local bullaces, thee are like the one in the photo, small wild greengages. The latter is the fruit that Richard Maybe describes as bullace, illustration page 41, Collins, Food for Free.
Thanks so much for dropping by and adding useful information to the site.
Sorry,
I do nt think your illustration is of bullace – Shepherd’s Bullace has white fruit while the Black Bullace is dark purple.
Black Bullace see http://botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/b/bullac86.html
hi a friend put me on to this site, I have just moved to leverkusen in germany and whilst out walking the dog on a common there are loads of trees with what look like black wild cherry, how can I double check that these are edible. theres also loads of rose hips and blackburry but I know what to do with those?
There is nothing better than chilling and foraging for fruit!
Tonya, I loved reading about your foraging. Secret apple tress in the cemetery… there are probably blackberries too.
I agree with Rosemary, Pat. These are yellow cherry plums. Why not pick them and turn them into something special.
Hello Matron. You can’t beat sloe gin!
Hi Richard,
Lucky you finding a damson tree. I am drinking damson gin whilst I reply to your comment. Pretty good stuff.
Hi Amanda,
I get over enthusiasic about sloes too. So many people are foraging early this year that we have to pick early too.
Hi Sara,
Glad the tips and tricks come in handy.
Absolutely spot on Rosemary. However if we waited until the first frosts we would find nothing on the bushes. We gather and freeze the fruit when it is ripe.
Hi Joanna,
So you have found the same scenario as us. Ripe sloes now and none after the first frosts!
Hi Kate,
If you ever travel to England we’d love to enjoy a glass of fruit gin with you.
Oh Jan,
Where do you live? I need the postcode so I can whistle up and pick like mad. Bullaces are my favourite wild fruit.
There is a couple of bullace trees in a hedgerow I know, and there are masses this year. The damsons (quite common around here) are delicious right now and I have to fight the dogs off to get to them before they do! As for the sloes – the bushes are laden with them, as large as grapes and with that beautiful blue bloom.
Ah, that sounds lovely. Not here … we get thrilled to pick Saskatoon berries or chokecherries. There are no wild fruits growing … unless I start stealing into gardens late at night!