Sloes? ID and harvest questions.

[BigShot]

Nice work Mr and Mrs Melonfish...

...when do you go back for the rest of the sloes?

 

[littlebiglane]

Thorns or no thorns on Damson/Bullace - its all a bit of a sliding scale on how naturalised they have become I think. Some damsons are bigger, sweeter and some or smaller and more bitter..and the line between them and Sloes becomes a bit hazy.....some of the bigger ones I have been picking 2-2.5cm diameter have been from bushes with some bL88dy painful thorns on!

 

[Melonfish]

me and the lads will be heading back on this coming wednesday with luck there'll be some left. saw an aweful lot of shrivelled ones.
did find some odd plum like berries too, they were elongated and purple with reddish flesh and the same stones as the sloes, damsons perhaps?
unfortunatly i didn't get a picture, did see something with really really bright red berries! like luminous red, in big clumps they grew, i'll dig a pic out for tomorrow got em on my camera phone.

 

[VirusKiller]

*** Sloe warning! ***

I didn't get around to making my sloe gin until early November. When I did, I tried a couple of sloes and they were almost edible, bordering on sweet!!! Also, after about ten days, my gin looks almost ready! There must have been something special about this year's crop - a bumper harvest indeed.

Anyway, be careful in adding sugar to your gin, particularly if you have a standard recipe!