Dave Baker wrote:
This pic looks as close to the fruit on my tree as I can find online.
http://www.suttonelms.org.uk/greengage.jpg
Looking more closely at some I've just picked there is actually a hint of a
crease on each fruit but it's little more than a thin line running down one
side rather than an indentation.
If they are small with not much flesh, its almost certain you have a
variety of mirabelle.
http://graphicleftovers.com/graphic/...irabelle-plum/
The French make wonderful tarts with them. They are generally not
regarded as fruit trees here, more as rough hedging plants.
I have a fairly large tree in my front garden as well as quite a lot in
the hedges here.
I suspect they are the prototype from which the greengage was developed
(and there are at least half a dozen varieties of that)
The black alternative is the bullace, which unlike the sloe or the
damson, is actually quite sweet.
Although Mirabelles are pretty good, gages are better! In a good year
ours are utterly deliciousness and crop in the '5 tesco bags a tree'
quantity and are totally edible raw..nectar sweet. Or pick early and
freeze after stoning.