Alternatively, have you ever taken a bag of fruit out of the freezer, left it to thaw while you went out, stewed it when you got back, and then found that someone had sent you a list which had said fruit at number six?
Absolutely true. Last summer’s blackberries for tea.
j
PS: you’ll have noted from this thread that medlars and coincidence go together. Coincidence or…magic?
It’s that time of year again. Apparently six months since last post, which means the board software will bother everyone who posted in this thread. Sorry about that. But I have a story to relate, one that proves that what goes around, comes around.
But first, an update on my own medlar tree. There were a dozen or so fruits on it - I say were, because the bastard squirrels took some. I have netted the rest. In truth, there were so few and they were so small (first year tree) that the loss is inconsequential in terms of, say, making jelly - I’ll have to buy some for that. But I was looking forward to enjoying some of my own, home grown medlars, so yes I am annoyed. It’s not as if I wasn’t warned, either - The Jam Lady said that might happen.
Ah yes, The Jam Lady.
Fruits immediately prior to netting, BTW:
Two years ago was the last time we managed to leave these shores, until this last week when we got away again. On the previous occasion, we saw our friends G & P, who live in Normandy; and G gave us a jar of her home made grape jelly, which was delicious. It would be nice to say that prodded me in the direction of jam making, but it’s not true. But as luck would have it, I have taken up jam making, and so, back in Normandy and seeing G & P again, I was able to present G with a jar of my own home-made Damson Jam in return - nice to be able to do that.
Now, The Jam Lady. From the Foraging And Preserving thread.
Here’s an aside: whilst I was banged up with sciatica, we went out to a small local market, and there I ran across someone selling a wide range of homemade jams, jellies and pickles. The Jam Lady, she styles herself. She saw me eyeing up her wares (professional interest, y’know?), and engaged me in conversation, so I recounted my recent activities.
“Mulberry?” she said, “I’ve never made that.” Heh - one up to me.
In an effort to recover and reestablish her dominance she asked: “Have you ever heard of medlars?”
“I have a tree,” I told her.
I wasn’t trying to be mean, but did it ever take the wind out of her sails.
Back to my friend G, and chatting about jam making; and my explanation that it all stemmed from my first encounter with that most mysterious of fruits, the medlar.
“Oh yes”, says G, “They grow wild in the hedgerow behind the house.”
“They what??”
In an odd way, it would have been nice if The Jam Lady had been there, just to see what went around coming back around. But yes, they do grow wild in the hedgerow behind the house. Here they are.
More updates in due course, I hope.
j
I just bought a quince. Note i need to do something with it. 
A single quince? Keep me posted, I’m intrigued.
Looking back at this thread I see that I bought medlars in 17 Oct last year. I think I’ll cycle* over to the shop in Ockley on Wednesday to check it out.
j
* - Hey, no petrol! - needs must and all that.
OK, so on October 6th I cycled over to Ockley to see if I could pick up some medlars. This, by the way, is the very splendid farm shop in question:
No medlars. So, I asked, when will they arrive? Blank looks. Weren’t sure if they would be selling them. Isn’t it someone in the village that grows them?, I asked. Do you have their details so I could contact them direct? Yes it is someone in the village - but they didn’t know who. They took my phone number and promised to get back to me once they had been able to pass my inquiry on to the shop manager.
In fact they got back to me later that day. In their words, most years “someone rocks up with a bucket of medlars” and they sell them. But no clear idea who this someone is.
So, I thought, time to google: - and that found… this thread. Bollocks.
In fact they had invited me to ring up and check every couple of days, which I will, but it’s no sure thing. Looks like the best plan actually is to grow your own.
j
It’s been a while. Very nearly 15 months.
Maddy the Medlar is doing well. In her first full year she produced 34 small fruits, about 700g. Not really enough for a batch of jelly, so I decided to blet and then freeze them, to combine with next year’s anticipated crop. Except for just a few – Trep jr and my Daughter-In-Custom-And-Practice were passing through at the right time, so well-bletted fruits were available as a taster at the end of dinner. DICAP very carefully waited until she saw me eat one before trying one herself – but the fruits were appreciated.
As for commercial supply – I drew a blank. Again. So: no jelly this year. But then…
We got away for a few days to Winchester, stopping off at Mottisfont on the way. It’s run by the National Trust, and a surprising number of NT places have a medlar tree. Mottisfont does – and, stone me, they had some medlars available for a voluntary contribution.
So I got me a kilo of medlars - threw them in the back of the car and forgot about them. I mean, what’s the worst thing that could happen? It’s the fruit that can go off and you don’t have to worry.
Long story short, after a round of bletting – to the point where you could tear the fruits with your fingers rather than cutting them - last night I made my second ever batch of medlar jelly. It has delicate rose notes, exotic like quince but more subtle. I like it - a lot. This is show-off jam – it’s the batch of medlar jelly that I set out to make 26 months ago, in October 2020. Next year, fingers crossed, I’ll make my third batch using medlars I grew myself. Looking forward to it already.
j