Zillah and I were up in London the past few days visiting family and friends and doing a bit of ‘business’, talking and meeting people who are at the cutting edge of community healthcare using food and plants for healing.
While wandering around on the top of Putney Common looking out for wild edibles, we chanced upon a wonderfully abundant Cherry Plum tree. Literally dripping with fruit.
Out came my trusty bag, and I made my way through the undergrowth to the base of the tree.
Not being that much of a youngster, well physically at least, I looked up with Doe like eyes, and saw the harvest above me, just begging to be picked. Yet people had obviously just walked on by, not even noticing the bounty right next to them.
Usually I would have laid a sheet underneath the tree and shaken the branches to release the fruit. Instead I had to negotiate climbing a six foot metal fence, and perch precariously on a single horizontal iron bar on top.
I barely had to touch the fruit to release it, and within 5 minutes had harvested around 2lbs of edible Cherry Plums. The tree continues to be laden with fruit.
After scrambling back down the fence, I realised just how flexible foraging has made my 45 year old body, and all without really working at it. Regular foraging has given back to me some of the flexibility I had when I was a lot younger. And I am deeply grateful for the many health benefits that foraging has bestowed upon me. The health benefits go way beyond ‘just filling the belly’.
The taste of Cherry Plum is a mixture of cherries and plums, hence the name. However I would say that they have a similar texture and sweetness to greengages.
Cherry Plum is not strictly a wild edible, because it was cultivated for its fruit before humans discovered other more rewarding fruit trees. Yet it is an overlooked fruit tree that is worthy of your attention. You will often find it being grown in suburban gardens for its ability to shield properties from the general public and because of its decorative foliage.
I love eating my fruits raw, but if you are a ‘jam monster’ I have heard that Cherry Plum makes a delicious wild fruit jam.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow! I saw a tree bearing exactly these red coloured plums today at my grandparents home and wondered what they were. Low and behold I stumble across my answer here!
Hi I picked a load of red plums from a tree with very pretty deep red foliage in a nearby garden square in London and made chutney with them last night! There’s another tree that looks promising with yellow fruit which I’m hoping are yellow cherry plums. Do you have any advice on these?
Gill: I would need to see some good photos of leaf, bark and fruits before answering your question. Remember, if you can’t ID it 100% don’t put it in your mouth.
Have been at my house 18 years and only this year has this tree put forth fruit. It has long thorns and in the past, has only had tiny green fruits. Now it’s got lovely cherry-like fruits, red/yellow but quite sour when I tasted one. What can I do with them? Can I pick them and make a pie for instance. I’m sure it is prunus cerasifera and have looked in the gardening books and also a friend has said he thinks it is too. Don’t want to poison the best beloved!!
Joan: The way you have described the thorns makes me think you might have a different plant/tree/shrub or at best some kind of cultivar/micro-species. I did not notice any thorns when I picked my fruit, although some writers mention they have spiny tips.
There are quite a few cultivars of Prunus cerasifera such as Belciana, De Caradeuc, Red, Yellow etc. Similar species include Bullace and Greengages.
Important: If you are unsure, and still are itching to try the fruit, make sure that you conduct a tolerance test just to be on the safe side.
Hi Robin
Thanks for the reply. I’m 99.9% sure they’re cherry plums. I’ve done a very low-tech tolerance test – ie tried a tiny bite, then a bigger one – and I’m fine. The leaf, the fruits’ look and taste and stone are all as you’d expect. But I’ll send you a photo to be 100% and as there are so few references to this lovely fruit on the net. The plum trees in the square seem to have been ‘discovered’ by many people now and the only fruit left is at the top of the tree, but I managed to pick a kilo last night for a few pots of jam.
I don’t want to take responsibilty for a mistake but hese do come in yellow as well.
Dear Robin, thank you for the reply about cherry plums, still here after the toxicity test and now the fruit has gone lovely dark red. Picked some today to stew or make jam.
Can I be cheeky and ask if you have a recipe for Rowan Jelly? My tree is loaded with berries; Alan has picked some and I’ve lost the recipe I had. The Victoria and Greengage trees are also full (not ready yet, of course) and the family apple tree is also sagging under the weight so it looks like a bumper harvest this year.
than you in anticipation, sincerely, Joan Kay
Joan: I’m about to go off and pick some Rowans, I’ll be posting my recipe here shortly, so stay tuned.
Just found around 40 trees lining a local rarely used road, I thought they were cherries, but the riper ones had a distinct plummy aroma.
What else could they of been lol
Thanks for helping me ID them. Going to make a lot of jam and a wine from them
I came across a tree today that i’m trying to identify. the leaves look very similar to the above picture, but many of the fruits on the tree were still green with a few starting to turn reddish. i’m pretty sure it’s some sort of cherry species, the fruits are cherry sized and cherry shaped, and have a single stone inside. however the bark on the main trunk is more rough that what a wild cherry would be. can anyone help?
I have 3 trees in my garden, have made jam previously would like other recipes if any one has any?
Good afternoon all. No prunus fruit is actually going to be poisonous, I think, so I’m sure nobody should worry on that score – though some fruits may be very sour.
We too have had an exceptional year (in Co Durham) for prunus-type fruit. I am certain the round, yellow ones up to an inch across are Mirabelles, sweet enough to eat raw and with the most flavour just before they start going brown.
The cherry plums, Prusus cerasifera, which are red to dark red and slightly elongated in form, are very plentiful this year too. I find them rather insipid raw – so I am going to have a go at making jam, adding a bit of lemon juice to sharpen them up and using slightly less than the usual 1lb sugar per 1lb of fruit because there will be so many stones to remove. De-stoning (same problem with damsons) is going to be troublesome. The stones do mostly float to the surface as the jam boils, and can then be skimmed off, but some always seem to get missed. Mashing is the alternative but with such small stones it is again hard to find them all – so I think maybe jelly is the answer, unless anyone has a better suggestion?
Does anyone else make jam in the microwave? I always used to boil in a jam pan in the traditional way, with sticky splashes going everywhere and a lot of cleaning up afterwards. Since changing to a microwave, I would never go back! It’s especially ideal for small amounts of fruit – simply place the fruit (this applies to all kinds) in a large bowl, with water if that’s recommended the usual jam recipe, and microwave on full power until soft. Then stir in the sugar and carry on microwaving until the jam begins to set, often 10-15 minutes on full power but with occasional stirring.
The huge advantage is that this method is far less likely to burn the sugar – since adopting this method I haven’t had a single over-cooked jar. And cleaning up is far easier too. Another plus is that jams like strawberry, which are inclined to give a froth or scum on top shortly before they set, do it much less this way than in an open pan.
Finally Rowan Berries: Yes, you absolutely can make rowan jelly in exactly the same way. The berries are slow to soften by boiling but it is worth persevering. Mashing and then straining produces a rather limited amount of juice (far less than redcurrants, for example), but from that point on you do exactly the same as when making any other jelly – add 1lb sugar to 1pt of juice and boil up, again in the microwave. The resulting jelly is truly delicious, with a very slightly bitter edge to the flavour that makes it a wonderful accompaniment to meat.
Just one question before I sign off: we have medlars too and I have tried various things over the years – jam, cheese, or eating them raw once brown and soft. I know the Elizabethans considered them a great delicacy but so far I can’t see the attraction – what am I doing wrong? Any advice gratefully received…
have harested a phenomenal quantity of these this autumn; red, yellow and deep purple. jam was extra fine, summer pudding very good too. a friend confused them with bird cherries, but i see that they are a separate genus