Gin, jam and foraging
News story by Joe Hashman – December 2025
“Pass me that jar,” my wife said. “Time to turn it.”
I handed her the Kilner full of clear spirit and embalmed Victoria plums. She suggested we also have a cheeky taste. Before I’d finished saying “hang on, it’s not yet Christmas” she’d unhinged the lid. We sampled a spoonful each and licked our lips.
Many folks make seasonal treats like sloe gin and blackberry whiskey. We used plums in ours because 2025 produced such a glut that we couldn’t eat them fast enough.
It’s been a fabulous year for fruit. Think about it – spring came early, was warm and dry. There was hardly a breath of wind nor hint of frost. Perfect conditions for pollinating insects and blossom to set. Subsequent harvests have been memorable.
‘Foraging’ can be defined as ‘going from place to place to search for things to eat or use’. When we pick blackberries or sloes from hedgerows or areas which have been allowed to go a bit wild, that’s what we’re doing. And it feels good because it’s a completely natural activity in which to engage. Our species has occupied the British Isles for at least 40,000 years and foraging for food is how our ancestors survived before farming started (which was only about 6,000 years ago).
Down in Enmore Green you’ll find the Donkey Field Community Orchard, a green space which offers edible adventures to children of all ages. The orchard is twenty years old now and, like elsewhere, cropped famously. Retired teacher Shaz Wahab lives nearby. Shaz taught at King Alfred’s Middle School, latterly Shaftesbury Primary, from 1987 until 2021 and has an instinct for foraging. In fact, he’s been involved in the Donkey Field right from the start. So when he came knocking the other evening with a jar of medlar jam it shouldn’t have been a surprise.
Medlars are just one of many different fruits which can be grown in Shaftesbury. Shaz found some for jam-making on a tree in the Donkey Field Community Orchard which was planted by the late Joan Timms. She was a stalwart of the Wessex Organic Movement in the 1980s and 90s, when the idea of growing food without using artificial chemicals was considered a bit cranky and niche. But Joan recognised the value of planting a medlar and would be delighted to know that ‘her’ tree was feeding people now.
That’s what Shaftesbury Orchard Town is all about – nourishing the body, mind and spirit. When you find ripe fruit in public open spaces during 2026, please don’t be nervous about foraging. That’s what it’s for. In that moment you’ll be living in the precious present, connecting with your ancestral past and, because food is sustenance, nodding to the future too.
Loads of people have helped to encourage and promote Shaftesbury Orchard Town. Thanks to everyone and a Happy New Year to all.
You can get in touch with The Shaftesbury Tree Group at planetshaftesbury@gmail.com.
