Page 17 - Simply Veg Issue 3 2019

survives there because of poor management - pruning when the sap is not flowing, not noticing broken branches and allowing the tree to become weak due to the lack of essential nutrients. Pest wise there is little to cause severe damage apart from plum fruit moth caterpillars which are mainly active
in the southern part of England. These caterpillars look like reddish maggots which can be found around the stone when the fruit is cut open. Fortunately, there is a good organic control for these caterpillars and it is similar to that used for the capture of male codling moths in apples. The trap on this occasion uses a pheromone that catches the male plum fruit moth. In gardens these traps give more or less total control against this pest if used as one trap per five trees.
Damsons ripen in late summer/autumn and are best picked when they have developed their full colour. The fruits are ripe when the fruit easily parts from its spur. The fruit will only be of good quality for a few days so make sure that you use them at their best (and this applies to preserving as well as eating) - which is more or less as soon
as you pick them! The fruits are generally very short keeping although Merryweather Damson may keep for a few days if kept in a cool and dark place.
Varieties
All of these recommended cultivars are self-fertile but to ensure the best damson flavour it would be best to plant two or more cultivars to allow cross pollination. They will all generally be ripe in September.
Bradley’s King
Raised in Halam, Nottinghamshire and
first recorded in1880. It is a good, regular cropper and is fairly large for a damson although smaller than Merryweather. Perhaps not as good a flavour as some other damsons such as Prune and Fairleigh. It is dark blue/black in colour with a fairly thick blue bloom and has a greenish yellow flesh.
Damson Prune (Shropshire
Prune Damson)
The origins of this damson are unclear but
it is probably of British origin and has been known in Britain since 1676. It is dark blue in colour with a blue bloom and has a greenish
The fruits are ripe when the fruit easily parts from its spur.
Damson
M
ather t
Se
b
e
rr
yw
a close up
ee
e
yellow flesh and develops a very good flavour when cooked.
Fairleigh Damson
Fairleigh Damson was a chance seedling found in Fairleigh in Kent and introduced about 1880. It is considered to be a good damson with the true damson flavour. It is a heavy cropper and its blossoms can handle several degrees of frost. All round this makes a good damson for the garden.
Merryweather Damson
Merryweather Damson is probably one
of the most widely grown of all damson varieties, being easy to grow, and producing good crops of classic damson-flavoured fruit and of plum size. However, despite having a damson flavour it has been argued that Merryweather is quite probably not a true damson but a hybrid damson/plum as
it has many plum characteristics. Flavour wise Merryweather has the typical astringent damson flavour but unlike most damsons the fruit can be eaten fresh from the tree if allowed to fully ripen.
Westmorland
The history of the Westmoreland damson is unclear, and it has been claimed to be a type of Shropshire Prune Damson but improved by the unique conditions in the old county of Westmorland and pollination by bullaces and sloes. This damson is relatively small in size but is considered to have the best flavour of all damsons. The fruit ripens in September and whilst best used for cooking purposes
it is said that in warm summers and early autumns fruits may be eaten fresh from the tree.
simplyvegetables 17