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from "Christina Websell" contains
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"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...
The message
from "Christina Websell" contains
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There's nothing I can think of that looks like a damson that
doesn't make good jam ;-)

Even sloes make lovely jam - but care is needed: unless you sieve-out
the stones it's like eating rocky caviar, and it can be spoonbendingly
solid.

I prefer to put sloes into gin ;-) and damsons too. Damson gin is good.
As is plum brandy and raspberry vodka.
I had a friend fall over outside after a few raspberry vodkas g

I usually manage to pick around 20 lbs of sloes in a good year, so I can
make as much sloe gi^h^h^h^white rum as I can afford, as much jam as I
need, and still have some in the freezer for contingencies.²³¹

²³¹Usually more sloe rum.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
echinosum writes:
|
| Of course many things grown as damsons aren't, they are "damson plums",
| ie plums that are damson-like.

Grrk. There really isn't any boundary between damsons and plums.

| But mine are Farleigh, a true damson
| raised from a wild seedling: the fruits are sloe-sized, smaller than
| cherries, ...

Well, I have Merryweather and Farleigh, too, and they are both about
the same size - both bantam's egg sized - so there is clearly a great
deal of variation in what is called Farleigh.

Yours sounds like a throwback; the smallest Prunus domestica that I
know of is mirabelle, and they are still larger than sloes and about
as big as cherries. Most damsons are bantam's egg sized.

You must have seen very small bantams, then.

IME largeer varieties of damsons are about the size of pigeons' or
quails' eggs, while most are moe of the thrush egg size.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| Yours sounds like a throwback; the smallest Prunus domestica that I
| know of is mirabelle, and they are still larger than sloes and about
| as big as cherries. Most damsons are bantam's egg sized.
|
| What breed of bantam?
|
| :-)

All right, pullet's egg sized, if you prefer :-)

I was referring to the traditional measure of size, which was fairly
standard (if completely nonsensical), not yer actual bantams ....

Pullets' eggs?

We're getting into serious dessert plum size now!

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
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Reading what you say and doing a bit more research, I really wonder whether I have what I am supposed to have.

I did think true damsons were a separate species, but I see that "P institia" is more correctly described as P domestica subsp institia.

I thought I had chosen my sweet plum so that it should be able to be pollinated by my damson. Checking back, I see that they should have exactly the same flowering date (nursery records both flower on average on 23 April). My experience with other fruit is that things vary their flowering out of synch with other varieties, but things said to flower at about the same time ought to do so in some years. In practice the damson has flowered well before the sweet plum. So I'm beginning to wonder if I do have some kind of wild throwback as you say.

There are wild damsons quite common in the hedgerows in the area, but they have a sufficient hint of sloe-like bitterness that I can't use them for cooking (whatever someone said about sloe jam, too bitter for me). But this one in my garden is not bitter, nor as vigorous as the hedgerow damsons.

We used to suck sloe berries when we was kids to try and remove the stain of blackberry juice from our tongues so mother would not know why we were late home from school. I can tell you they are very bitter and leave a dryness in the mouth, whereas the wild damsons we used to gather were sweet once they were fully ripe.
Sloes are about 5 - 10 mm across, while damsons are 15 - 20 mm, but, having said that, if you have a tree that has not been obtained from a reputable source it could be a natural hybrid of anything from that genus.
Provided you enjoy consuming the produce, does it truly matter that much what name someone has decided to hang on it ?.
Personally, I don't eat them, just make flavoured drink instead,
although I use Polish Spirit rather than Gin.