Plum: Any of several trees producing edible oval fruit having a smooth skin and a single hard stone.
If only it were that simple!
I always enjoy learning something new—especially things I’ve never heard of before. Recently, I’ve been on a learning curve with everyday problem-solving, like trying to get chewing gum out of a woolly jumper (spoiler: the freezer trick definitely doesn’t work on wool!).
A Surprising Foraging Discovery
Today, while researching something completely unrelated, I stumbled across a variety I’d never encountered before: the sand plum. Intrigued, I dove down a research rabbit hole. Feeling like an early botanical explorer, I noted the leaf markings and realized how remarkably similar it looked to our wild cherry plum.
I read deeper, spending hours comparing images from its native North America with my own foraging notes. Suddenly, something I had always believed to be distinctly British—a core part of my jam-making heritage—was turned on its head.
Is the Cherry Plum Actually American?
Further reading suggested that my beloved tart-yet-sweet cherry plum might actually be the sand plum, native to North America and cultivated by Native Americans many moons ago.
Could the cherry plum, something I’ve hand-picked everywhere from the Welsh countryside and secret coastal nooks to hidden glades in the New Forest,really be American?
The names kept swirling in my head: Sand, Cherry, Horse, Beach... In my mind’s eye, I could suddenly picture these wild fruit trees lining the skate parks of California!
Back to Our Jam Heritage
Overwhelmed by the endless varieties, I took a step back. I had to reassure myself: the wild cherry plums we harvest across the UK are deeply rooted in our own natural heritage. Wild plums and wild cherries share a close botanical relationship, giving us the wonderful cherry plum we know and love today.
Now, where was I? Ah, yes back to making Sage and Plum Jam!