(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/08/19/e594441ac43466b3a4aa1bd5333234bb.jpg)
I think they are, anyone made a wine from them before?
They sure look like them alright. I haven't made wine from them but i've used them in jam alright.
Looking at pic it's hard to tell.
Damsons are in the plum family, prunus (something)
Damsons are normally smaller than plums, trying to judge by leaf size they do look smaller. Imagine a plum as a golf ball, a damson would be like a ping pong ball if that makes sense!
Are they ripe? They should taste tartish with a hint of sweetness.
All the better for making wine.
Go for it!
Look like sloes to me.
Quote from: Damo on August 19, 2014, 11:23:49 PM
Looking at pic it's hard to tell.
Damsons are in the plum family, prunus (something)
Damsons are normally smaller than plums, trying to judge by leaf size they do look smaller. Imagine a plum as a golf ball, a damson would be like a ping pong ball if that makes sense!
Are they ripe? They should taste tartish with a hint of sweetness.
All the better for making wine.
Go for it!
I'll get another later and post a better pic. Roughly the size of a big grape. They do taste quite pleasant, not too sharp and a little sweet. If I pick these now could I freeze them for use later? (waiting on some demis)
Quote from: johnrm on August 20, 2014, 09:23:24 AM
Look like sloes to me.
Very similar looking alright, but they are bigger than sloes and taste better. Most sloes around here are still green.
sloes grow on the blackthorn tree. it has spikey thorns and different leaves.
Those leaves look like plum leaves and I see no thorns.
Looks like poison berries, I'd say you'll be brown bread by the end of the day.
Haha I was just worried I'd get a dose of the brad pitts.
Quote from: irish_goat on August 20, 2014, 03:18:19 PM
Looks like poison berries, I'd say you'll be brown bread by the end of the day.
I agree so can I have your car :P
They look like damsons similar to this http://thegirlwiththewoodenspoon.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/damson.jpg
It's makes a gorgeous red wine, much like plum wine, just a touch dryer. It was always one of my Grandfather's staples!
I wonder are they the berries that my cousins in kerry used to call freachons. Used to go picking them when I was little and they were so tasty they made me big. :)
Dempsey freachons as you called them - usually referred to as Fraughan/Blueberry - Latin name Vaccinium myrtillus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaccinium_myrtillus
I seem to remember them being called blackcuts where I live. Depending on where you are in Ireland/Europe they can be called any of a number of local 'names' - Fraughan (from gaelic Fraochán) Bilberry (from a scandinavian root) blueberry, Blaeberry,Whortleberry among others
It is a small berry about the size of a blackcurrant or smaller. They are usually picked on last Sunday of July (known as Fraughan Sunday!)
To give you an idea of the size of a fraughan https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQWuj4VtihN6cxf33BRadXEaLl0Mmb8x4npAxcOIsvbjcYybhP3
A damson which is from same family as plum has a stone in middle and is considerably larger.
http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRkDgzyiyH1hx7MjpWFjThuJ6_M8IQ_1EDcQx9WhK-iei9lgRh_bA
Heard of them alright, my Granda used to sing a song that mentioned them. I picked 4lb of damsons tonight and started a batch of wine. I'll stick up a recipe in the next day or two.
Fraughan/Bilberry you got in in one. This site is a world of information thanks. For years I would often have mention these berries to family around the country and was asked what berry were they. I used to pick them in north Kerry and was just down there at the weekend and went searching along the ditches for any sign of them,none could be found. I wonder why they have all gone. My aunt says that because the ditches have all being cut back that that's what would have killed them off,not sure that would be so :-\. Would love to get my hands on some again :(.
Well you learn something everyday. Reading up on these berries this titbit came up,
QuoteOften associated with improvement of night vision, bilberries are mentioned in a popular story of World War II RAF pilots consuming bilberry jam to sharpen vision for night missions. A study in 2000[5] by the U.S. Navy found no such effect and origins of the RAF story cannot be found.[6] After the introduction of radar, RAF bombing became more accurately targeted, but to confuse the enemy, the story was leaked that it "was something in the pilots' diet" that improved their targeting - that something was carrots, not bilberries, and the story was concocted merely to keep the Germans from knowing the real reason for improved accuracy.
So eating carrots was a war secret and rabbits are blind :D
Just to be clear Carrots do in fact contain good things that are needed for healthy eyes:
Retinol is one of the animal forms of vitamin A. It is a diterpenoid and an alcohol.
When converted to the retinal (retinaldehyde) form, vitamin A is essential for vision, ...
Retinol is produced in the body from the hydrolysis of retinyl esters, and from the reduction of retinal. Retinol in turn is ingested in a precursor form; animal sources (liver and eggs) contain retinyl esters, whereas plants (carrots, spinach) contain pro-vitamin A carotenoids (these may also be considered simply vitamin A).
So Carrots were really on the diet of night fighter pilots in WW II