In early spring many of the local hedges were bright with the white blossom of blackthorn.  However three of the local “blackthorn” shrubs do not have little purple sloes but red and orange fruit now.   The blossom looked identical but these are cherry plums (prunus cerasifera) and no relation to cherries but are the original ancestors of all of our domestic plums.  Two of the shrubs have orange fruits and one has larger red fruit.  After sampling the ripe juicy fruit I returned today to pick some which will be destined for plum crumbles and some for jam.  More food for free to add to my freezer supply of foraged gooseberries, raspberries and brambles and soon there will be apples from the countryside, all collected within easy walking distance from home.