We're partial to a plum...

…which is just as well!

A couple of years ago when we were still trying to get the garden under control we planted a Victoria plum tree; it was only little, not as tall as me, and it gave us the grand total of two plums in its first year. Last year we had about a dozen fruits, all of which had had the middle eaten out by plum moth; we didn’t manage to salvage a single one.

But this year…bingo! Our tree is now about 50cms taller than me and is absolutely weighed down with perfect fruit – we’ve had to tie up its spindly branches to stop them snapping under the strain! I’ve put a kilo in the freezer to make some more chutney and I’ve mixed a kilo with sugar to macerate for jam-making tomorrow. The ones in the picture are less than a quarter of the total on our little tree; there are still plenty left that aren’t quite ripe yet. It’s really done us proud!

Certain parts of the fruit and veg plot have been a disappointment this year, yes…tomatoes and peppers, I’m talking about you, but the successes have more than made up for the failures.

I love this time of year – so many jams and chutneys just waiting to be made before the veg plot gets put to bed until spring. I’ll let you know how the jam-making goes tomorrow; now all I have to do is find a way of using up the rest of my little beauties!