When will the plums be ripe?

[mcaville]

Hi everyone, I've been reading this site for a few weeks now and thought that it was high time i made my first post. This is my first year of foraging and i'm really loving it. I've already made Elderflower champagne and cordial, as well as rose petal syrup. So far they have all turned out really well!!

Today i was out scouring the Kentish hedgerows and have discovered a massive haul of plums/bulaces/mirabelles (not sure which). The majority of them are still pail green and very firm, but some further up the trees have turned yellow with slight pinky red tinges to their sun facing sides. There were also some on the floor that had turned yellowy pinky red, and these tasted quite sweet. I was just wondering when they are likely to be ripe? I would hate to miss them at their best, or to pick them too early. Any advice would be great.

Around the same location i also discovered loads of Hazelnut trees and some crab apple trees too. I'll be looking forward to an Autumnal bounty!!

Thanks in advance,

Martin

[Odsox]

Hi Martin, welcome to Ish.

Plums in Kent are ripe from early September onwards. Cherry plums and Mirabelles are a bit earlier and can be ripe in mid August in good years. Bullaces are much later, end of September but more likely during October.
Hazel nuts also September if there are any left after the squirrels have feasted, and sloes in November.
Hope that helps.

[snapdragon]

the yellow cherry plums in my front garden are ripening now, I think red ones may be a bit later.

**as an aside anyone in reach of UK postal area SP11 (pm me for the address) is welcome to come scrump some, if they drop they'll have to go in the compost

[mcaville]

Thanks for the tips. In terms of identifying what these particular fruits are can anyone help shed some light? As well as the description i have already given, they are around 2cm to 3cm in diameter, pale green turning to yellow and red, and grow almost in clusters along the branch. The branches are really weighed down by them! They are definitely in the plum family because they look and taste like plums and have the correct leaf, but as Mabey's book has nothing about plums, bulaces, or mirabelles, I am not quite sure what i'm looking at.

[Odsox]

Bullaces are like greengages and only ripen to a yellowy shade of green.
Cherry plums are ... well, they look like slightly bigger cherries
And I'm sure you know what plums look like.

[Hedgehogpie]

The funny thing about the name bullace is that it may be regionally variable. I've noticed in the midlands it is generally used to describe a golden coloured plum, whereas here it's the name used for a small purple plum. Very confusing! Odsox is right about the rough seasons although it can still vary a little - for example stuff is a little later this year than usual thanks to that dodgy spring we had & last year which was a bumper one, I think things came in much earlier. So basically watch the hedgerows carefully and test your fruits regularly so that you catch them at just the right moment.

Whereabouts in Kent are you?

[Odsox]

The funny thing about the name bullace is that it may be regionally variable. I've noticed in the midlands it is generally used to describe a golden coloured plum, whereas here it's the name used for a small purple plum.

Just to confuse even more, I lived most of my life in west Kent .. almost (but not quite ) Sussex and the Bullace that I know growing wild in the hedges is green until it's dead ripe and then it takes on a slight yellowish tinge.
As the Weald of Kent was one of the main centres for tree fruit years ago, there are many hybrids growing in hedgerows from germinating stones and rootstock suckers, some of which fruit, so lots of different unique plum family sports that defy identification.

[mcaville]

.

Whereabouts in Kent are you?

I'm in Maidstone.

At the moment i'm using Richard Mabey's book as my main guide, but i also have the River Cottage mushroom guide and Julie Brutton-Seal & Matthew Seal's Hedgerow Medicine. I've had an allotment for the last couple of years, but with not having the time to tend to it as well it needed, i have decided to focus my efforts on what mother nature will grow without my involvement instead.

Osdox is definitely right about Kent and its abundance of varieties. There are plenty of footpaths around the myriad of orchards, and the hedgerows that surround them are full of great stuff.

I haven't been brave enough to venture into the world of mushrooms yet. Its something that i would really like to gain confidence in, but at the moment there is always that little doubt in the back of my mind.

[Hedgehogpie]

I'm up near Rochester. If you haven't come across it before take a quick look at this site: http://www.bushcraft-magazine.co.uk/index.php Theyre based in Edgerton near Ashford and do a vareity of courses through the year that might interest you. I'm in the midst of completing the instructors course with the Cornwall Wild Food School, it was something I've been promising myself I'd do for ages.

[mcaville]

Just been back to check on my secret stash and there is even more than i had previously thought. I'm not even exaggerating when i say that there must be about 2 miles of hedgerow that is just full of plum trees.

They are now turning a lovely red colour with a few going a really nice purple already. I picked all the purple ones and have come home with about 4kg. They are now being turned into a nice plum jelly. I think i'm going to need some more recipes to make the most of all that this location has to offer!!!!

[Thomzo]

I'm picking my cherry plums now. They will keep ripening to a dark claret but are quite sweet enough to eat when pale orange. Basically, pick one and try it. If it's edible, pick some and come back later for the rest.

Zoe

[Millymollymandy]

My damsons are dropping off, unripe, despite all the hours with the seep hose.

Plums need tons of water to stay on the tree and ripen.