What's the best time to pick damsons?

[Flosshilde]

I don't know when the best time to pick them is, but my greengrocer has them now. My first thought when I saw them was 'jam' rather than 'gin'

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Can you be certain tho, ferney?

Oh! Am I being sloe on the uptake?







( ... and the worst thing is I don't feel even a morsel of shame! )

[greenilex]

Best of all is picking three purple plums off the tree to have with my muesli this morning.

I had to use a fishing net on the end of two bamboos but it was worth it.

Not a bottle of gin in sight - Armagnac still firmly corked, so there.

[Flosshilde]

In a brown paper bag was it, Greenilex?

[gurnemanz]

Best of all is picking three purple plums off the tree to have with my muesli this morning.

Jealous. Our usually reliable Victoria Plum failed this year. Blackberries (the big juicy cultivated type) go nicely with cereal.

[Nick Armstrong]

Dave wants to pick "damsons", not "damsels", Anna!

[Anna]

Not about damsons, but sloes. My bottle of Asda washing up liquid is Sloe Berry and Passion Fruit, how perfectly weird is that? Sloes don't have any fragrance and what happened to old fashioned Fairy or own-brand lemon flavour washing up liquid?
I usually get Victoria Plums from a neighbour's tree, but it seems their crop has failed this year. The blackberries are super abundant this year, as are the apples but the pears are dismal.

[vinteuil]

Not about damsons, but sloes. My bottle of Asda washing up liquid is Sloe Berry and Passion Fruit, how perfectly weird is that? Sloes don't have any fragrance and what happened to old fashioned Fairy or own-brand lemon flavour washing up liquid?
.

....perfectly weird. I'd say. For a start, the sloe is not a berry (" a succulent fleshy fruit containing several seeds, but without a stone layer around the seeds"), and - as you say, they don't have a fragrance. I suppose the astringent quality of sloes is what the marketing people subliminally want to carry across. as a potential 'cleaning' agent... And why one wd want one's dishes to pong of Passion Fruit???

Fairy Liquid still very much available, and is what we have always used....

[JFLL]

Dave wants to pick "damsons", not "damsels", Anna!

Funnily enough, 'damsons' are sometimes turned into 'damsels' in old field-names.

But it's been a disastrous year for our damsons in Herefordshire, in contrast with the bumper crops of the last two years. Very sad. I haven't seen any yet in the greengrocers, either. Maybe other parts of the country have fared better?

[Nick Armstrong]

Fairy Liquid still very much available, and is what we have always used....

Quite. I imagine the air at Chateau Vinrouge is heavy with the scent of 'Pomegranate and Honeysuckle'?

http://www.fairy-dish.co.uk/uk/fairy/product/5410076711260

[amateur51]

Fairy Liquid

Now is that something that fairies exude?

Or is it what results from blending ripe fairies?

I think we should be told

[vinteuil]

Quite. I imagine the air at Chateau Vinrouge is heavy with the scent of 'Pomegranate and Honeysuckle'?

... good lord, NO!!!!!!!!!!!! -

never has your : yikes : emoticon been better deployed...

My main struggle in life (continuing my late father's un-ending battle... ) is the obtaining of pong-free washing up liquids, kitchen cleaners, bathroom bleaches, and the like. Surprisingly difficult.

I used to be a stickler for pong-free soaps too, and thought Simple a very good idea. Of recent years I have come round to accepting Roger & Gallet Extra-Vieille... Mme V has a lot to answer for...

[Anna]

Well, I'm not sure about Fairy Liquid but obviously vinteuil's usage of it accounts for his perfect, glowing, peachy-bloom complexion ...... (Hands that do dishes are as soft as your face ..........) I admit I do tend to go for the more exotic fragranced ones, like Lemon Grass and Chinese Five Spice

[Jonathan]

I remember when I was a child, my parents used to have some Damson trees in the allotment so my Mum used to make jam with them. I believe the best time to pick them is about now (from what I can remember!)

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, I'm not sure about Fairy Liquid but obviously vinteuil's usage of it accounts for his perfect, glowing, peachy-bloom complexion ...... (Hands that do dishes are as soft as your face ..........) I admit I do tend to go for the more exotic fragranced ones, like Lemon Grass and Chinese Five Spice

As do I - and why not?? Vints is just an old Spartan.

Wild blackberries seem in abundance (a bun dance) this year; yesterday I saw something not seen since childhood - people with punnets out gathering from a roadside hedge! A sign of the hard times, all that free Vit C not going to waste?