Damson Plum

Prunus domestica subsp. insititia

fruit

Damson is the traditional British cooking plum, a subspecies of European plum that produces small ovoid blue-black fruit with sweet-spicy-tart flesh and exceptionally high pectin content. The fresh flavor is too tart for most palates, but Damson transforms in cooking into the best plum jam, fruit cheese, and gin-infused liqueur (sloe gin substitute) imaginable. Extremely hardy and disease-resistant.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Chives — Repels aphids and may suppress brown rot
• Comfrey — Chop-and-drop mulch returns potassium
• Yarrow — Hosts parasitic wasps that hunt plum curculio
• Daffodils — Deters voles and rabbits

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Plum curculio →

  Kaolin clay at petal fall; jar the trunk at dawn over a sheet; pick up early drops weekly

• Black knot →

  Cut out swollen galls 4 in below knots in dormant season; remove wild Prunus host trees nearby

• Brown rot →

  Prune for airflow, remove mummies before bloom, pick fruit before it softens

• Aphids →

  Encourage ladybugs and lacewings; blast colonies with a sharp water spray

🌾 Harvest & storage

Damson ripens from late August into October depending on cultivar. Wait until the fruit is almost black with a soft waxy bloom and gives slightly under gentle thumb pressure. The fresh flavor is intensely sour; do not judge by raw taste. Cooked Damsons reveal their famous balance of sweet-tart-spicy flavor in jam, fruit butter, fruit cheese (a stiff jam pressed into molds), and traditional Damson gin (soak pricked fruit in gin with sugar for 3 months).

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

About 46 calories per 100 g fresh with 1.4 g fiber, 9.5 mg vitamin C, and 157 mg potassium. Damsons are particularly high in pectin (the natural gelling agent) and anthocyanins, which is what makes the cooked fruit set so beautifully into jam and gives it deep antioxidant value.

⚠️ Toxicity & safety

Eat the flesh, not the pit. The kernel inside the pit contains amygdalin, a cyanide-releasing compound - discard the pits and never eat or crush the seeds inside.