Plum crazy!

Two very wet summers and the unusual amount of cold weather during the last winter were followed by an uncommonly pleasant spring, particularly around blossom time. Consequently, we are now waging war on wasps! The orchard is heaving with fruit and the little buggers are having a real carnival.

The plum trees, for probably only the second time in the last decade, are drooping with fruit from every branch; the real challenge isn't finding time to pick but avoiding the time when the wasps are feasting! That means either the early hours of the morning - not the best of times to be climbing up and down a ladder - or just before the fruit is truly ripe......................... So for the past week dodging wasps has become my new 'hobby'..... that, and deciding what to do with all the fruit.

Unfortunately, (or maybe not) the heaviest crops seem to hang in the highest branches which are unreachable.... Nonetheless we have more than enough to deal with.

So its been "Making jam today" and "making more jam today" and "How about plum crumble?" or "Maybe I'll make a plum tart" and "I've just stewed a load of plums to freeze for the winter!" until, with only two trees so far having been picked (out of about half a dozen) , we were getting just a little plummed out!

And then I remembered rhubarb. I hate rhubarb but last year a friend gave me some so I had to do something with it. Suddenly I hit on the idea of a rhubarb and banana smoothie (in my book bananas make just about anything bearable....).

So I made a plum smoothie - just stew the plums till soft then whizz through the liquidiser, add a little demerara sugar and 'hey presto' ...... unbelievably delicious!

Addiction is not far off! And the war on wasps has escalated to new heights.....................