damsons 90p per pound? for jam

Agent1013

I saw some damsons last Monday at a carboot sale for 50p a punnet. Not sure what the weight would be though. Try searching for them locally for free. Hedgerows, woods, on canal towpaths etc... I found absolutely loads of them around here (West Midlands) never noticed them till I went looking

Agent1013

sazzy6 wrote: »

Thanks all,

I think I will pop round tomorrow and buy a few pounds. I've never made jam from a stoned fruit so looking forward to it. Made rhubarb and ginger jam last week - it was loooovely.

mmmmmm Rhubarb & Ginger jam I made about 15 jars of that beginning of August after having a glut of rhubarb this year

sazzy6

Well I got the damsons today and made up 9 jars of jam from 3 pounds of fruit. I can't believe I was looking forwards to working with a stoned fruit! LOL what a pain in the butt!

Anyway I think I got 99% of them out but probably not all of them. I think I will go back to strawberries, raspberries, rhubarb and oranges.

It also turned out that they 80p per pound. So I paid £2.40 but when I weighed them when I got home there was 3 1/2 pounds.

Not a bad price really and my oh my the jam tastes goooooood!:T

Penelope_Penguin

sazzy6 wrote: »

Well I got the damsons today and made up 9 jars of jam from 3 pounds of fruit. I can't believe I was looking forwards to working with a stoned fruit! LOL what a pain in the butt!

Anyway I think I got 99% of them out but probably not all of them.

I count in my damsons, then count out the stones, which float to the surface once they cook and the fruits split. I've never lost one yet :j

smeeinnit

Justamum wrote: »

I've never seen damson jam on sale. I'll be looking out for these in my supermarket (I know they've had them for the last couple of years) so I can make some jam. I've got a load of blackcurrants and blackberries in my freezer ready for jam making too! Just need to get the sugar - which I can't fit into my budget at the moment

Funnily enough I stumbled upon some damson jam reduced in our local somerfield soon to be co-op store, reduced as discontinued. I think it was Hartleys. Didn't buy any as I have about 4 kilos waiting to be "jammed" in my freezer lol.

Justamum

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I count in my damsons, then count out the stones, which float to the surface once they cook and the fruits split. I've never lost one yet :j

That's what I did when I made damson jam. It's a lot easier than trying to de-stone them beforehand isn't it?

babyshoes

We tried the method of taking the stones out after they cook today - never again! We had a huge batch in a very large pot, and it took almost as long as just pushing them out with your fingers, and I am not 100% confident we got them all...

I have found that you don't need to cut them open to get the stone out - just push ripe damsons between your fingers in the way an olive/cherry pipping tool does, and the flesh just falls away from the stone. Messy, but at least you know you have gotten them all!

Cheapskate

We went out over the weekend & I saw a sign near a house/farm offering damsons for 40p a pound! Thinking about going for some if I pass again this week, I love HM damson jam! We got loads of plums from a friend of DH's a few years ago, 5 or 6 carrier bags full, & it took me a couple of days to stone them all before cooking! I had fine cuts & stains all over my fingers that lasted weeks, but I thought it was easier than doing it after they were cooked.

ALIBOBSY

I made mine last year, by cooking whole with water then pushing through a seive. You get the flesh and juice of the damsons without the stones and skin. You then cook your mix up with the sugar etc.

ali x

foxgloves

I think that's a good price. Mine were from a fruit farm & cost a quid for a lb. I bought 4lbs and have used 3lbs to make damson gin. Only made one bottle last year & everyone liked it so much that we thought we'd do extra & save pretty bottles to give it as Christmas gifts this year. With the remaning 1lb, I added a lb of our windfall apples & made damson & apple jelly which is really nice, can use like jam on sweet things, or with meats like lamb. You don't always see damsons & some years they are even more scarce because the crop isn't as good, so I like to buy some every year.