Pretty Prunings and Plum Preserves

Hermann the German is nearly done with the winter pruning of our many fruit trees and so I have been harvesting the cuttings: bring them into the balmy indoors in a vase of water and you will be rewarded with your very own spring display.

Here: plum tree prunings in (forced) flower:

 The rest of the prunings are added to our dead wood hedge – home to loads of grateful little creatures – the blackbirds and little robin redbreast being just two of them:

 

And while waiting for this year’s blossoms to get blossoming in earnest I have been delving into the jars of bottled wild plums from last year’s harvest still gracing the cellar…

   

and turning them into

wild plum and apple jelly with vanilla

 wild plum conserve in meadowsweet syrup

Round about July I will remind you again why picking those wild plums really is worth the effort!