Bullace

Size is everything when identifying the plum family, they all start off green and go a near purple black colour. It’s the first to develop a derrière, ie the v groove cup associated with a British plum. The bullace is a little larger than the sloes and smaller than a damson. It’s still round like a sloe whereas a damson is more oval. For size it’s between the top section of your middle finger and thumb, 1.5-2.5cm. Grows on bushy often thorny stems and makes a pleasant slightly sweeter alternative to sloe gin. It can also be made into jams and added to other fruit in a jam. You want pretty much equal quantities of sugar and fruit to make a jam.

I like to freeze mine for a few days minimum to improve the sweetness, this also softens the fruit giving you more juice. You can freeze for longer with little deterioration. The fruit contains a stone so will make a better seived jelly, and a really tasty leather.