Country diary: Notice anything wrong with this ripe, succulent plum? | Claire Stares

Langstone, Hampshire: My garden is full of Victoria plums, but they’re not supposed to be crunchy inside

This summer has been challenging for the fruit trees in my garden, with intense heat and a lack of rain causing poor cropping, premature ripening and pre-harvest drop.

While my dessert and cooking apples have produced just a handful of stunted, crab-apple-sized fruit, and my quince is bare, the Victoria plum growing next to the greenhouse is the exception. Its branches are so heavily laden that several have snapped under the weight.