Saturday 29 August 2015

New home for the bees and Plum Jam recipe

Hello All
And a big Derbyshire welcome to Debbie on the follower bar and Jane and Sophie on bloglovin
A couple of weeks ago we were planning to move a colony of bees to Hathersage, A village in the Peak District of Derbyshire.  Our plans didn't work out and then I mislaid their number so we aborted the move. Yesterday we finally managed it!
 The colony was for first time beekeepers S. and L, who I am sure will make excellent beekeepers. They live on a farm in the hills with views to die for. Where to site the hive had to be given quite a bit of thought as the farm is quite exposed and is can be effected by strong winds. However they looked pretty snug when we left. I took a couple of pictures of them and their surroundings, but for some reason the pics didn't turn out.
 Before we set off home we had a cup of tea and also tried some soft cheese that they are producing and will be marketing. And very very nice it was too, a bit like a tastier Brie  (we love Brie) They kindly gave us a half round to take home, which we resisted eating as we drove along. As we drove through Crich we popped into "The Loaf" bakery and bought a light rye loaf.
 Back home -out with the butter, a couple of freshly picked tomatoes,  the loaf, the cheese and we ate the lot!! Oh my it was a delicious, simple meal.

 A friend said that she had some plums picked for me. I was a little tied up so my granddaughter fetched them for me .. bags  and bags of yellow plums!!. So far I have stoned and open frozen the perfect ones, bagged a several pounds of smaller, less perfect ones for wine, stewed 4 pounds for a couple of crumbles and made some jam ( the chickens have had the really rubbish ones)

 I used a simple recipe for the jam, which is pretty foolproof. Here it is -
 To each 3 pound of plums add half a pint of water and cook until soft
Add 3 pounds of warmed sugar and cook until setting point reached.

That's it. I always remove the stones and I don't crack these and add them to the jam tied in muslin as it is such a faff and I am unhappy about using plum stones as they can be quite toxic.

   All for now
Gillx






15 comments:

  1. We had no plums this year as I'd over-pruned the tree during last winter. Plum Tatin is very good.

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    1. ooh yes! what a good idea. We are just starting to pick our Victorias, but the Marjorie's Seedling is a couple of weeks off yet and they will go very well in a tatin.
      Good crop next year eh?

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  2. I hope the bees will be OK and protected where they are living now.
    How nice to have a friend who sends you plums.
    Love that the chickens even got to eat some.

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. Win Win situation isn't it when you have chickens as nothing is wasted? It's a pity that we haven't got our next lot of pigs!
      Winter will be a tester for the bees up there in the peaks, but they are in a valley, so should be okay.

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  3. I love the sound of the cheese, I would like to give cheesemaking a go, but perhaps I shouldn't......I'd end up twice the size! Perhaps I'll stick to making your plum jam.

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    1. Trouble is I love both. One of my favourite meals is brie with onion jam or chutney on top, wrapped in filo pastry and cooked in the oven. How amny calories there?!

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  4. Would love to know exactly how to open freeze plums Frugal. Our Victorias are just about ready but there are not many on. But the market has a stall with mountains of them and I love them so much I would readily buy some to freeze. Do you just split them in half and open freeze on a tray? And do you add sugar before you freeze\?

    That cheese sounds perfect by the way.

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    1. Yes Weave, I split them, stone them and place them open side up on trays I have covered with cling film. Next day I pour them into bags. No sugar.
      The cheese was wonderful.

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  5. Done plum - now on greengage!
    Just in case we move to somewhere without established fruit I was instructed to make jam to last a couple of years, but looking at the cupboard you would think there were 20 people who eat jam!

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    1. Our greengages haven't done too well this year, too many fruits but not enough rain, so there are lots of really small ones. I love greengage jam, tho' it is not very attractive when I make it. ...A sort of khaki colour!
      Can't have too much jam.

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  6. Yum! Your simple meal sounds delicious.

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    1. It really was. Doing anything else to it would have spoiled it.

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  7. Did you actually cut all the stones out? I tried to make jam with little plums one year. It was disastrous. I thought that once the plums had cooked and softened, I'd be able to get them out easily. It didn't work. I would love to know how you make your wine!

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  8. I don't take the stones out if the plums are little ones (or damsons) If using them for jam I take the stones out when they float to the top, which they will do once you have added the sugar.
    For wine I don't take the stones out at all, they will be filtered out when the wine is filtered. I will try to remember to do a post when I make the wine.

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