Underappreciated fruit
By Fleur
@Fleura (34324)
United Kingdom
March 13, 2026 7:41am CST
Sometimes it seems that ‘we’, in this country, are turning away from our local produce and going for more exotic things. For example in the supermarket you can buy bananas, papayas, pineapples, mangoes, kiwis, even dragonfruit, but you cannot buy greengages or damsons, or even good plums, only the huge rock-hard things that would make good ammunition in a siege.
The reason for this is transport. You can pick green bananas and ship them around the world and they will ripen and become edible, good even. But damsons have to ripen on the tree and once ripe they are easily damaged and soon spoil.
I understand the problem but I still think it’s a shame. Plums and gages, fresh off the tree, are some of the best fruit to eat just as they are, and damsons make fabulous jams, puddings and ice-cream.
In working my way down the freezer yesterday I extracted a bag of damsons, and made a pie. Honestly I had forgotten how good such a simple dessert is! Just put the damsons in a dish, sprinkle with sugar, and top with shortcrust pastry, again with a sprinkle of sugar on top. Bake until golden and enjoy with custard, fabulous!
Just watch out for the stones. As a child we often had stone fruit in pies or just stewed and served with custard, and my mother taught me to play ‘Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor…’ with the stones around the edge of the plate afterwards. Did you ever do this?
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2026.
8 people like this
9 responses
@Traceyjayne (8888)
• United Kingdom
20h
I do agree with you …..as you know I pick blackberries that grow wild by our caravan, we have an apple tree in our garden and together they make the most delicious pies and crumbles ….
I need to get a wriggle on as I want to plant some veggies this year. I’m hoping my neighbour will give me some more cherry tomatoes plants …..
I really want to grow fruits but we haven’t much room at the moment.
We forget that Mother Nature provides us with so much …..
I have heard of the Tinker, Tailor , rhyme …..I think we did it with prune stones ….
3 people like this
@Fleura (34324)
• United Kingdom
15h
@Traceyjayne I can't really say without knowing anything about how much space you have, how much sun, whether you have space for a tree or two or a few bushes, and of course what you like!
@luisadannointed (10251)
• Philippines
19h
For some fruits that are not available here in the store nearby, sometimes we asked our relatives in the province to send us one
3 people like this
@BarBaraPrz (51502)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
18h
Never played that game. I usually buy pitted prunes, but didn't realise this last batch wasn't. 
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (89193)
• United States
17h
I love fruit pies and making them is so much better than anything you can buy. My mom used to bake the most delicious pies and I know it was the flaky crust that made it so good. I haven't baked a pie in ages but now I'm thinking how nice it would be. Maybe that's what I'll do over the weekend.
I think we have a decent selection of fruits in our supermarkets. Most times everything is available unless you're specifically looking for something that is out of season.
1 person likes this
@Fleura (34324)
• United Kingdom
44m
Basically you count the stones going 'Tinker, tailor, soldier, sailor, rich man, poor man, beggar man, thief' (what you end on tells you who you will marry). Then you repeat with a second to tell you when it will be: 'this year, next year, sometime, never', then again to tell what you will be dressed in 'silk, satin, muslin, rags' and then again with another rhyme I can't remember the start of, to determine occupation, that goes 'something, something, something, church, architect, lawyer, left in the lurch'. I might remember the 'somethings' later 
