A week or so ago we were on one of our periodic walks to the Builders’ Merchants. It sits on the edge of town, part of a small industrial enclave whose buildings are screened from adjacent roads by a section of dense mixed woodland.
And this is what we found along the fence-line – a close-set row of cherry plum trees, laden with fruit.
The Cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera) is native to Europe and Asia and grown in the UK as an ornamental due to its early flowering. It is also used in hedging. (Which makes me wonder if this row is a hedge gone feral. There are a few of those in Bishop’s Castle and we should know.) Better still, the fruit, ripening between mid-July and September, is edible. I tried a couple of windfalls, fallen on the verge. Sun-warmed and juicy. Delicious.
Now, I can’t think why I haven’t been back to gather some more – before the wasps beat me to it.
