What a way to make an entrance!

Adrian "Ade" Edmondson, presenter of ITV's "Ade in Britain", had driven up my drive in a swish Mini Cooper that was pulling the coolest caravan in town. 

The word 'caravan' doesn't do justice to this ultra-chic travelling pod, which Ade is using on his culinary voyage of discovery around Britain.

The idea behind his television programme is to showcase local culinary distinctiveness by talking to artisan food and drink producers, making their recipes, and tasting their food or drink. 

Ade and the film crew were visiting my three-acre patch (located about five miles south of Ludlow) to talk, cook and taste damsons, specifically the Shropshire Prune damson variety.

As with any filming, the first step is to assess the venue and vet your subject. My 9-month old spaniel, Darcey, was deemed suitable to appear on camera.

Planting damson trees in the hedge and not just the orchard is a typical Shropshire planting style for this gorgeous Autumn fruit.

 With the camera rolling Ade asked me to confirm that the Shropshire Prune is not, in fact, a prune (a dried plum). I explained, and this is merely my theory, that 'prune' is possibly a reference to the Latin name of the genus to which plums and damsons belong, namely, 'prunus'.

I also realised at this stage that there would be no planning of what was going to be said; everything was going to be impromptu. We then set off to have a look at the damson trees. 

I resisted the urge to say "walk this way". 

While looking at the tiny fruitlets that had set on my trees (how heart-achingly typical that there seemed to be so few fruitlets on my trees this year, sigh ...) we spoke about how easy damson trees are to grow and care for, and whether or not the Shropshire Prune is unique to Shropshire.

There were a couple of interruptions that caused filming to stop: three horses galloping on the hill behind the orchard, and the farmer who came to check his Hereford cattle in the field next door.

During these brief interruptions anecdotes were told.

Rather than make one of the classic damson dishes like damson jam or damson cheese, I suggested we throw caution to the wind and make a damson creme brulee. So, while Ade stoned some damsons, I made a custard sauce.

He used my cherry stoner to remove the damson stones as cleanly as possibe, and the beauty of this approach was that we didn't have to sieve for damson stones and therefore end up with a puree. Instead, we had whole-fruit damson compote — lightly sweetened — that would form the base of the dessert. Excellent for giving a burst of damson flavour in the mouth.

While sprinkling sugar on the soon-to-be brulee, Ade pointed out that, despite its French name, creme brulee was created in Trinity College, Cambridge, and was known as burnt creme. Obviously, we both agreed that 'Shropshire Prune damson burnt cream', was a more apt name.

Ade yielded a blow torch (everyone ducked) and the damson burnt creme was created.

I think it's fair to say he liked the taste of the damson dessert he helped create. But you'll have to watch the programme, which is most likely going to be aired in the new year of 2013, to hear exactly what he had to say.

The final bit of filming featured Ade in the meadow, and this sequence of an Shropshire meadow in May is possibly going to be the introduction to the programme.

An extra special thank you to Caroline, the producer, who made it all happen. A lovelier liaising person I couldn't hope to meet.

BBC Radio 4's Gardeners' Question Time on 15th April, 2012 opened with a question about a non-fruiting damson tree.

The question was posed by June Sutton, from Wolverhampton Horticultural Society.

She explained that she had planted a damson tree in her allotment two years ago; the tree is now 6 foot high (the same height as when she planted it), and has three main branches. She asked:

Will I live to see it fruit, as I am led to believe it takes many years?

Also, I want to keep it a reasonable size, would pruning effect its 'fruitability'?

And when would be the best time to prune it?

The panel asked June several questions:

How big was it when you bought it?

How tall was it, roughly, when you got it?

Did it have a proper label on it?

Did it come in a container?

It emerged that June's damson tree was given to her by a friend (this friend took it from his orchard), so the panel wondered if it was a damson seedling.

A damson seedling, it seems, will not be prolific, and Bob Flowerdew was asked to explain why.

 Bob said:

If it's a seedling, it may not come true.

Plum seedlings (and therefore probably damsons too) tend to take 10-15 years to fruit.

On the other hand, If it was a sucker coming off an established tree it might be [...] St. Julian A stock, which will give you a small purple plum, eventually. But it won't be quite what you wanted.

The unanimous conclusion of the panel was 'When in doubt, buy a damson tree, and make sure it has a label on it.'

Amongst all the questioning and damson tree advice, were mentions of specific damson varieties. Eric Robson, the chairman of Gardeners' Question Time, described the Shropshire Prune as 'the best' damson. And Pippa Greenwood, who gave a bug thumb's up to damson cultivar 'Merryweather' (which was introduced in 1907) noted that the Shropshire Prune makes 'wonderful jam'.

Viva the purple revolution.

You can listen to this particular episode of Gardeners' Question Time on BBC iPlayer by clicking here (the damson discussion starts at 1.18):

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b01fjz33

Oh, Baked Alaska, that toothsome retro dessert that is, essentially, a contradiction in terms: a hot iceberg.

Some say it's molecular gastronomy, and others say it's the sweet stuff of childhood. Both of us are right.

Marcus Bean, the chef-proprietor of The New Inn at Baschurch, Shropshire, has given Baked Alaska a grown-up twist. And this twist, which Marcus has featured on his restaurant menu, is all because of the unique flavour of the damson.

These are the culinary components of Marcus' Salopian take on Baked Alaska:

• chocolate sponge, and on top of this ...
• Shropshire Prune damson ice-cream, and on top of this ...
• hot, caramelised peaks of meringue

All of these sit on a Shropshire Prune damson "puree", which is the chef's own description of the damson sauce that acts as the dessert's foundational layer. As a distillation of damson flavour, the puree provides the essence of the dish.

Whether it was intentional or not, the damson puree is the last thing on the spoon but the first thing on the tongue, so it sets the scene for the flavours to come.

This is the Shropshire Prune Damson Baked Alaska:

Notice the intense colour of that damson puree. Its characteristic complex and punchy fruitiness means it's the perfect foil for the sweetness of the meringue. No better way to set the iceberg on fire.

It would be interesting to know what the Romans, who brought the damson to Shropshire, would have thought of it.

The damson blossom appeared at the end of March, which was a whole month early.

Here's a video showing the very early stages of blossom development on a young Shropshire Prune damson tree.

Them plums; just look at them: a triad of deliciousness.

So what are they?

Let's be cantankerous and move from right to left, biggest to smallest.

The largest fruit is a Kirke's blue, a variety popularised by nurseryman Joseph Kirke in the 1820s. It is sweet and fleshy, and juicy enough to require a crisp linen napkin (even a tea towel will do) wrapped around your neck when eating it. But this isn't really a plum you would merely eat: you would savour it, with eyebrows raised that a fruit could taste so good.

The middle fruit is an old English greengage. It's delicious too, but in a way different to the Kirke's blue. The gage is a little less 'plummy' — though you're in no doubt you're eating a plum — and much, much sweeter. As for its astonishing sweetness, it's not that eating an old English greengage is like eating honey, because that would be too sweet, but that it has a honeyed taste. In other words, the flavour profile is characterised by honey-sweetness, but pleasing floral and fruity elements dance on your tongue too.

Finally, the smallest, darkest fruit on the left is a Shropshire Prune damson, which seems relatively unassuming and insignificant compared with the other two. Its flavour has more in common with the Kirke's blue than the greengage: it falls more on the side of 'plumminess' than on the side of sweetness. But this doesn't mean that Shropshire Prune damsons aren't sweet, because you can eat them out of hand when they are properly ripe. That damsons were put on this earth solely for their astringency is a(n urban) myth. The striking feature of the flavour profile of the Shropshire Prune damson is the multidimentional nature of it. Unlike the exhuberance and frivolity of the gage, the damson is complex and deep, the very essence of plum. The 'plummiest' plum of them all.

It's telling that each of these plums has been around for a while, because you simply can't beat them for flavour (and yield).

So, if you're looking to plant a tree that will give you full-sized plums, you won't go wrong with a Kirke's blue. If you want a gage tree, the old English greengage will delight you. And if you're tempted to plant a damson, the Shropshire Prune is surely your best bet.

Like January, February is a quiet month in the life of a damson tree.

As you can see from the brooding-skyed photo below, the flurry of hedge-bound Shropshire Prunes (foreground, sharp left) have neither bud nor blossom nor leaf.

March will be the month, then.

Known also at the myrobalan plum, the cherry plum, certainly this specimen, is more shrub-like than tree-like in stature. It's the earliest tree I see in blossom. Would you fancy your chances coming into blossom in February in the UK?

People wonder which came first, the damson or the sloe. They also ask: "Is the sloe a type of damson or is the damson a type of sloe?" So here's the answer: the blackthorn crossed with the cherry plum and gave rise, ultimately, to the damson.

There is a step in between, but there'll be more about the family tree of the damson in another post.

It's all quiet on the damson tree front at this time of year. All the better, without the distraction of leaf or blossom, for seeing the shape, habit and general demeanour of this particular fruit tree.

All the photos that follow are of Shropshire Prune damson trees that 'live' on the Herefordshire-Shropshire border. Some are in my garden, and some are in the field next door. 

With an educated guess I'd say the age of the tree in the photo below is thirty, maybe even forty years. There's something very stately about it. It doesn't appear to mind having its roots exposed by cows who use them as a leg-up for pulling off the ripe damsons in September. 

As alluded to earlier, cows simply adore damsons, and will strip the tree of fruit in a flash. This photo of a young damson tree (planted too near a fence) shows the side of the fence on which the cows dwell. 

Further up the field still there's a tall and very old plum tree. This plum tree is a heavy cropper, with the most delectable-looking plums you'll ever see: they are deep purple and about the size and shape of a large hen's egg. Despite their enticing good looks, their flavour and texture are shocking: dull, mealy, mean.

But that plum tree is an aside, and there's something more interesting growing next to it, a slim, spindly-looking wild cherry plum tree. If you look very, very carefully at the photo below, you might spot, off-centre and to the right, a single white blossom on the cherry plum. This cherry plum tree is of note because it's a 'grandparent' of the damson. More about that in the next post, though, because by then, the blossom wil be in full ... bloom. 

So that's what's happening in the life of a damson in January; not much, apparently, but all the action will kick off soon. 

One of the people who came along to our Slow Food Shropshire Prune damson taste workshop at last weekend's Ludlow Food and Drink Festival was Fiona, co-owner of Myndtown Wines, which is based near Bishop's Castle in Shropshire. Fiona was also an exhibitor at the fringe part of the festival. Here is the Myndtown Wines stand:

At the end of the taste workshop Fiona and I chatted about ... well ... damsons. It turns out that Fiona sources her damsons — which were clearly Shropshire Prunes — from an orchard just over the border in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, a great damson growing area.

Fiona donated a very large bottle, 700 ml, of her Chilton Damson Gin for our Damson Day on Sunday 25th September. Here it is, in my garden (notice the seal is intact); what a thing to behold:

Fiona's damson gin has strong branding and rather than making the drink with just any old gin, she uses Greenall's gin, which has a heritage stretching back some 250 years, and is possibly the oldest gin distilled in the UK. Fiona also steeps the damsons in the gin for 6 months so it should be, as she says herself, "rich and plummy" on the palate. 

Thank you Fiona for such a generous gift. 

Nothing Could go Wrong

It was the end of April. The sky was clear blue and the sun was much hotter than it should have been for the time of the year. Just perfect weather for a Damson Day. We packed the dogs into the back of the car and set off on the modest forty-five minute journey from one part of Shropshire (Ludlow) to another (Coalbrookdale, near Ironbridge, near Telford). 

Coalbrookdale is adjacent to the Ironbridge Gorge, a world heritage site whose importance lies in it giving birth, via the manufacture of iron, to the industrial revolution. By the close of the 18^th century the gorge had become the most technologically advanced area of the world: the Silicon Valley of its time. It somehow seems fitting, as if in a gesture of atonement, that one of the industrialists who prospered from such heavy (and dirty) industry was also responsible for creating a very large green space, filled with rare specimen trees and other plants: the Coalbrookdale Arboretum. The Coalbrookdale Arboretum is also the site of the National Damson Collection, hence the Damson Day celebration.

As soon as we arrived at Coalbrookdale, I went to let the dogs out of the car but quickly realised that we’d left their leads at home. What were we thinking? By now it was far too hot to leave the dogs in the car. No dog leads: no Damson Day. It’s a long story, but a little ingenuity and some discarded rope saved the day. The dogs’ new ‘leads’ drew quizzical looks from several of the other visitors, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if someone offered me a few coppers to sing Galway Bay.  

A Little Frayed

So, with one disaster averted, it was time to face the next one. This time, it took me a while to spot the problem. My camera was virtually out of memory. Oh what was I thinking?  This was a problem because the Coalbrookdale Arboretum turned out to be a supremely photogenic place, with every twist and turn bursting with the manic freshness of late spring. It meant I didn't have the luxury of taking several photos to get the one good shot. It also explains why there aren't many photos in this post. Next time I visit I'll be sure to remember my memory. 

Restoring the Splendour of the Place

The Coalbrookdale Arboretum was created in the late 18^th century. If the arboretum matched the vision that conceived it, and I bet it did, it must have been a grand place. Although it has now fallen into disrepair, a group of volunteers, the Friends of Coalbrookdale Arboretum, are working to renovate and restore the site to its former glory. Their plans for renovations are ambitious and include:

• Renovating the National Damson Collection
• Planting new trees based on original planting records
• Identifying and labeling specimen trees that survive from the original collection
• Creating a sensory garden around an original fountain that was fed by an underground reservoir
• Re-opening woodland pathways
• Renovating a beautiful Victorian retaining wall
• Installing handrails and places to rest along the steeper paths
• Renovating an old fernery

Here is a snapshot of what they plan to do:

The Friends are documenting their progress on their blog, which you can see here: http://coalbrookdalearboretum.wordpress.com/ and on their Facebook page, which you can see here: http://en-gb.facebook.com/people/Coalbrookdale-Arboretum/100002554418546

The Damson Day Vibe

Back, now, to Damson Day. We made our way up to the meadow in which the Damson Day celebrations were taking place. The atmosphere was wonderful and the sun was getting hotter.

Damson Day Getting Underway

There were plant, craft and food stalls. Naturally, damsons featured prominently on the menu. There were cheese rolls with excellent damson chutney, and cream teas with superb damson jam. 

Fluffy scones, damson jam and clotted cream: what's not to like?

As we tucked into damsony things we listened to live music from a group that consisted of a lead singer who also played guitar, a mandolinist and a female supporting vocalist. The lead singer’s voice was light and melodic; it was astonishingly good. 

Shropshire Bluegrass meets Debussy Arabesque

I met Jo, Secretary of the Friends of Coalbrookdale Arboretum, and we exchanged “damson business cards”. It was great to be able to swap notes about what our two groups are doing to preserve the many damson varieties, including the Shropshire Prune.

Moving Ever Skywards

It was time to find the National Damson Collection. Leaving the meadow we headed up to the arboretum proper. There was wild garlic everywhere. 

The Friends of Coalbrookdale Arboretum had planned their Damson Day to coincide with the annual burst of damson blossom, a remarkable sight in spring that is the promise of the deep purple fruits in autumn. However, this year, because of the warm spring, the trees had blossomed very early, so they were covered with green leaves rather than white blossom.

The National Damson Collection

The National Damson Collection is one half of an orchard of plums, transected by the path you can see in the photo. The damson plum trees are on the left, and the right is taken up with bullace plum trees. Each tree is labeled with its variety, if it’s known. There are several trees not yet identified, but their identification is an on-going process.

Damson varieties in the collection include Godshill Blue, Blue Violet, Merryweather, Farleigh, Bradley’s King, and of course, Shropshire Prune. All of the trees were bearing lots of fruitlets: a preserver’s and cook’s idea of heaven. There must have been some twenty damson trees and a similar number, if not more, bullace trees.

I’ll admit to feeling a frisson seeing so many damson varieties in one place. What I’m particularly interested in is not so much how similar these damson varieties are, but in how they are different. Although I’m a small scale Shropshire Prune damson grower, my primary perspective is that of a cook, so for me flavour is key.

I’ve read time and again that the Shropshire Prune has the finest flavour of all the damsons, and while I’d love to believe that, I have no proof. That’s one of the many reasons I’ll be going back to the Coalbrookdale Arboretum. A national collection? More a national treasure!

Autumn has arrived and we're making preparations for our first ever Damson Day, entitled "Discovering the Damson", which will be held in rural Shropshire on Sunday, 25th September, 2011.

For more detail about the day, and how to buy a ticket, have a look below at the press release we sent out today. No joking, tickets are very limited so don't delay getting one if you'd like to come along. We'd love to see you there!

Damsons at Dusk; taken on 31 August, 2011. The damsons will be ripe two weeks earlier than last year.

Discovering the Damson — Press Release

Come and discover the damson on Sunday 25^th September for a day of celebrating and rediscovering the Shropshire Prune, a variety of damson with distinctive qualities.

Join us and our hosts Colin and Lyn Fletcher at "Woodfield" their picturesque smallholding in Clungunford, in the heart of the Shropshire Hills, for a day of talks, tastings and cookery demonstrations that will help you fall back in love with this quintessentially English hedgerow crop.

Tish Dockerty, Slow Food Ludlow member, explains:

“The Shropshire Prune is a wonderful Autumn fruit that has slowly faded from many people’s consciousnesses. It is remembered in Shropshire as a cash-crop for cottagers and more recently, its culinary versatility has been championed by a group of local chefs and food producers associated with Slow Food Ludlow.”

Jodie Griffith, who is also organising the event, continues:

“We will be joined by two local chefs, who will demonstrate some innovative and exciting recipes using the Shropshire Prune damson. There will be lots of tasters! Information and displays of local producers and Shropshire Prune damson retail outlets will also be available.”

Tickets are available from Jodie Griffith, Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership on 01588 674090 or jodie.griffith@shropshire.gov.uk

The price is £25, or £20 for Friends of the Shropshire Hills and Slow Food members. Lunch and a free gift are included.

The day has been brought to you through cooperation between the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership’s "Discover Local" project and the Slow Food Ludlow Marches Group.

Notes on the AONB

For further information contact Jodie Griffith, Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership, The Old Post Office, Shrewsbury Road, Craven Arms, SY7 9NZ.  Tel: 01588 674090

Email:  jodie.griffith@shropshire.gov.uk 

Website: www.shropshirehillsaonb.co.uk

The Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) is one of 40 AONBs in England & Wales.  This designation is recognition of the national value of the area's landscape, and brings duties on local authorities to conserve and  enhance its natural beauty.  Covering 23% of the county, the Shropshire Hills AONB extends from the Wrekin to the Clun Forest and from the Stiperstones to the Clee Hills.  It is a diverse and tranquil area, with rugged hills, rolling pastoral fields, woods and meadows, picturesque villages and historic buildings, hillforts and ancient monuments.

The management of the AONB is guided by a statutory Management Plan produced by the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership which comprises two local authorities, 31 other organisations and independent community members. The AONB staff team are funded by Defra and the local authorities, and work with others to implement the AONB Management Plan.  Shropshire Council acts as host authority for the AONB Partnership.  The Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership plays three main roles:

·   To develop policy and strategy for the area especially through the AONB Management Plan, and influence the policies and strategies of others

·   To take and co-ordinate action to conserve and enhance natural beauty, promote enjoyment and understanding, and further sustainable development

·   To support the involvement of the community in the management of the AONB