Those attending this week's Zoom session....
As mentioned last week, this Zoom session is number 25 which means that half our GG meetings this year have been on line. Hopefully, with the arrival of the New Year and a vaccine, we will soon be able to get back to what we do best...beating up the countryside..😁.
Although the numbers of those attending was down a bit on recent weeks, there was a wide array of topics up for discussion ranging from picking sloes and bullace through to the long term effects that Coronavirus will leave us with. For those who were uncertain of exactly what bullace is, see below....
The bullace is a variety of plum. It bears edible fruit similar to those of the damson, and like the damson is considered to be a strain of the insititiasubspecies of Prunus domestica. Although the term has regionally been applied to several different kinds of "wild plum" found in the United Kingdom, it is usually taken to refer to varieties with a spherical shape, as opposed to the oval damsons.[1][2]
Unlike nearly all damsons, bullaces may be either "white" (i.e. yellow or green) or "black" (i.e. blue or purple) in colour, and ripen up to six weeks later in the year.[3] Though smaller than most damsons, bullaces are much larger than the closely related sloe.[3] Their flavour is usually rather acidic until fully ripe.
The question of wether we will be able to hold our traditional Christmas Bash at Shide Quarry this year was raised - at the moment there are just too many unknowns but let's all keep our fingers crossed.
Take care everyone and stay safe...😷.
