View Full Version : The return of the sloe
British Red
09-08-2009, 22:31
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3469/3804650998_c7a17594d4_o.jpg
Isn't this a grand sight after last years dismal showing? I'm delighted to see so many around. Funny old thing nature. Never really thought about them "failing" till last year
Red
hedgepig
09-08-2009, 22:40
There's a good crop here too this year! They are still much greener than this though.
VirusKiller
10-08-2009, 07:02
I noticed some too last weekend (powdery blue on the outside, but still green and hard under the powder) and was very surprised to see them so early in the year; I didn't realize that last year's crop (my first sloe harvest) was particularly bad.
John Fenna
10-08-2009, 08:00
A grand showing over here as well - but still green as yet.
Scoffham
10-08-2009, 08:10
will have to go and check out my local spots today.. no doubt they will still be green.. if there are any!
MartiniDave
10-08-2009, 08:12
They're quite patchy round here, lots on some bushes (usually where you can't get at them!) not so many on others.
Seen some nice damsons too, but they still need a couple of weeks.
Dave
Melonfish
10-08-2009, 08:14
you sod, i've not seen any on the local blackthorns and i've been keeping a close eye on em!
jelous as hell now :D
Dougster
10-08-2009, 09:33
I am ready with about a gallon of gin, but they are waaaay behind where they should be. As we drank the last of our sloe gin the Christmas before last, I'm getting rather impatient for this crop to come good.
VirusKiller
10-08-2009, 09:47
I am ready with about a gallon of gin, but they are waaaay behind where they should be. Really? I harvested mine last year in late October; that's still ten weeks away.
I am ready with about a gallon of gin, but they are waaaay behind where they should be. As we drank the last of our sloe gin the Christmas before last, I'm getting rather impatient for this crop to come good.
Ditto.
But will the gin last until the sloes appear? There's nothing round Poole yet - hopefully, Glasgow/Dunbartonshire will yield a bumper crop. Toddy!
Womble_Lancs
10-08-2009, 10:40
We spent ages collecting whinberries last week - 7 people, 1½ hours collecting, to get enough to make one very small pie, but it was a very nice pie.
British Red
10-08-2009, 10:42
errrm
what on earth is a whinberry?
calibanzwei
10-08-2009, 10:54
I'm sure I've seen some sloe-type berry's round my way but haven't got round to properly ID'ing them....
<sloe-pes off with camera in hand>
VirusKiller
10-08-2009, 10:57
errrm
what on earth is a whinberry?
It's a Bilberry.
bushcraftbob
10-08-2009, 15:08
Im going to make some Sloe Vodka this year. I have heard it is scrummy!
I have also heard that its best to wait for the first frost before gathering Sloes - do you all concur??
cheers
British Red
10-08-2009, 15:13
It's a Bilberry.
Cheers - thats a new word on me :)
An artificial frost is easy bushcraftbob - bung em in the freezer for a night ;)
It does pay to wait for them to ripen and the frost seem to break them open a bit - but freezing sorts that
Red
bushcraftbob
10-08-2009, 15:16
Didnt think o that!
Im going to gather some in a few weeks me thinks, as soon as i've done my hawthorn berry and crab apple fruit leather experiment :)
Im going to make some Sloe Vodka this year. I have heard it is scrummy!
I have also heard that its best to wait for the first frost before gathering Sloes - do you all concur??
cheersIf'n you wait that long, you'll miss out as they will all be gone. Pick them and then freeze them. Pick late in September ready for next summer,
Ditto.
But will the gin last until the sloes appear? There's nothing round Poole yet - hopefully, Glasgow/Dunbartonshire will yield a bumper crop. Toddy!
I have a secret patch in west lothian if you're interested. last year I made two demi johns of sloe gin and I still have some left in the freezer. They won't be ready for picking until october though.
VirusKiller
10-08-2009, 15:20
Im going to make some Sloe Vodka this year. I have heard it is scrummy!That does sound good, though my sloe gin was lovely last year. A bit of both this year perhaps?
I have also heard that its best to wait for the first frost before gathering Sloes - do you all concur??
It does pay to wait for them to ripen and the frost seem to break them open a bit - but freezing sorts that
I've often wondered if the "first frost" thing is more to do with ripening than the process of freezing. As I said, I harvested my first lot in late October last year, mainly because I didn't get my a**e in gear earlier. Two month brewing time was no problem whatsoever for the sloe gin though.
Isn't this a grand sight after last years dismal showing? I'm delighted to see so many around. Funny old thing nature. Never really thought about them "failing" till last year
Red
Lots and lots of them around here this year. As you say last year was dismal. There are hundreds of blackthorn bushes in the hedgerows here and I was shocked when there were next to none last year.
Seems most berries are ripening early this year around these parts.
rivermom
10-08-2009, 23:06
Yo, bushcraftbob. What is this hawthorn berry and crabapple fruit leather experiment of which you speak? I am intrigued, because although I understood every word in the sentence, the entire sentence makes no sense to me.
Melonfish
11-08-2009, 08:56
hmmm haws there's buckets of them round here...
also got my eye on the Rowans too, always thought the berries for the rowan were poisonous. how wrong was i? i'm digging out some recipies for em atm :D
There will be plenty of Damsons then.
My uncle loves them
I got enough sloes to make 5 1/2 lb of sloe jelly last year, the 1st jar was almost gone before I'd had chance to stick the labels on, the rest managed to last untill about the first week in november. I'm not sure if that's a testament to my jam making skills or just kids with hollow legs.
As well as the sloes I've noticed the rose hips are looking pretty good also this year
Melonfish
11-08-2009, 15:07
rosehips are something else in abundance yeah, reckon i can make a good jelly out of them.
No sign of ripening here yet of the sloes. I must give a nod to John Fenna for his fine sloe gin! one of the best!
I've been bilberry picking today and there's an abundance! lots of summer puds and pies to make. Though they are so ripe that they explode whilst being picked.
I also become very excited when finding a new location for ceps. They were birch (orange topped) ones and apparently they're not so good and become black when cooked. Anyone have a nice recipe?
We have a great crop of saffron milk caps here from sept+. They have a great nutty taste and have now become one of my favorites. Yum.
John Fenna
11-08-2009, 15:48
[QUOTE=descry0;571046] I must give a nod to John Fenna for his fine sloe gin! one of the best!
QUOTE]
Only one bottle left now!:(
Come on sloes - ripen!
This reminds me I've still got two bags full of sloes in the freezer from last season!:eek:
I wonder if there ok to use????:confused:
John Fenna
11-08-2009, 17:52
Yes!
About time you bought some gin!
scrogger
11-08-2009, 18:22
Its all happening!!! I have just made 6 large jars of Mirabelle Plum jam which is the best I have made yet. I made sloe Gin and Vodka last year first go and all is now gone. Plenty of Sloes ripe now but will they taste the same with the false freezing method?
Off to pick some more plums tonight to try plum gin and vodka aswell this year!! should make for a Christmas.(hicuup!!)
Blackberrys are a poor show though at the mo.
happy days!
Andy
Night Phoenix
11-08-2009, 20:26
None of the sloes are out anywhere near me yet :( everything else but, started making some rowan jelly but i really want a go at sloe jam and sloe gin
abundance of slows in my area, same story with the haws, damsons, crab apples, rowans and blackberries :)
they should all be ripe very soon and when that time comes i'll have no idea what to make first, probably sloe gin followed closely by blackberry schnapps then some plum and apple jam :)
TJ
Night Phoenix
11-08-2009, 23:31
abundance of slows in my area, same story with the haws, damsons, crab apples, rowans and blackberries :)
they should all be ripe very soon and when that time comes i'll have no idea what to make first, probably sloe gin followed closely by blackberry schnapps then some plum and apple jam :)
TJ
Glad to see you got alcohol first :D
I have a secret patch in west lothian if you're interested. last year I made two demi johns of sloe gin and I still have some left in the freezer. They won't be ready for picking until october though.
Well, I'll recce my new loc first and, if it's bare, I might take you up on that! We managed nothing last year and it's getting desperate!
MartiniDave
12-08-2009, 09:00
Over the yearss I've had good results with sloes, damsons and cherrys all steeped in gin to make liquor, there must be other things that'll work too. The cherries took about 4 times as long to work as sloes, but the end result was superb & you could eat the boozy cherries:)
Dave
Im making a lot of fruit in spirits now...Sloes is next on the list
Well!
I know everyone said last year was a poor year for sloes, yet I still did OK.
However.
This year is amazing!
I have been out for a ride today and there are places I never knew there were sloes and there are shed loads! It's an embarrassment of riches.
Which has got me thinking (in between worrying about whether the government are trying to kill us off with vitamin deficiency - you bell-end, you know who you are) - are some of those sloes actually damsons!?
And yet I know they're not.
I normally harvest them in mid/late September. I don't consider myself a sloe-expert, merely competent. But I am left all a-tizz.
When is everyone else going to harvest them? I'm thinking NOW. I have a tough pallet (unless a sweetie acid drop makes my tongue bleed it doesn't even register on the taste-ometre) and tried a couple today and I reckon they're ripe.
Can't decide what to do.
My instincts say 'leave them for a few more weeks', but the rational part of me says 'pick them whilst ripe or else they'll be gone!!'
What do you all suggest, considering I'm in the south-east where things tend to ripen sooner than the grim ol' north?
Cheers.
Damsons are bigger
sloes are a little smaller than my thumbnail
Damsons are twice the size.
I saw some sloes the other day; gaining their colour but Ill leave them a few weeks.
nicodiemus
17-08-2009, 12:55
My mum makes sloe gin. Has Sloes near her allotment. Has to fight the old boys for 'em.
It's bloody handsome, it is. Sweet as you like, barely tastes of alcohol. Dangerous!
My job involves clearing brush and trees beneath powerlines, including vast tangly, prickly swathes of blackthorn. I've never seen as many sloes as I have this year. In fact the Prunus (plum) family are all very productive this year after two bad years.
I'm in West Sussex and will happily supply bucketfulls to anyone who wants to come and get them when they're ready.
Silverclaws
17-08-2009, 20:39
Done it already, I have two bottles of sloe gin on the go, made with nothing other than Plymouth Gin and local sloes. I have been watching them too and noticed although some trees bear green berries, other bear partally ripe berries and some have the sloes fully ripe, soft and even shrivelling on the branch, I got berries off the latter. Also I have noticed this year, the Black thorn, well, some trees have fully ripe pea sized sloe berries.
So I got an early batch of gin on, aim to go for the other trees in a couple of weeks time.
But one thing was a wonder, a patch where I knew there were loads, I went there on Thursday, and every single sloe berry was gone, completely gone, no berries left of any kind. There were tyre tracks around and all the undergrowth was crumpled down, but the trees bore leaves only,
Blackberry wine next, as this years crop is awesome, in fact my foray to collect sloes was interspersed with bouts of picking squash in the fingers big juicy black berries. And whilst I was thinking of that, I noticed the rose hips, haws, elderberry and gone wild apple trees. Found something I have yet to identify, something that resembles plum, but the fruits are yellowy red, big and ripe.
Yes!
About time you bought some gin!
But I always supply the Port and Silver Birch Wine!!
I've decided, sod it - there's too many sloes about and they seem to be ripening quickly and I'm scared everyone will go sloe made and have them all before I get some.
So, I'm just about to go out and pick a couple of pound of them and make my first batch of sloe gin.
I'll then give it another month or so and then pick some more and make a second batch.
I'll mark them 'early' and 'late' and it will be interesting to see how differently they taste.
Anyway, I'm off RIGHT NOW to get me some sloes!
VirusKiller
31-08-2009, 09:39
I've checked out my local sloes over the weekend and, whilst they are BIG, the flesh is still green. When I collected them late last October, much of the flesh was red. I'd say mine aren't ready yet.
Thoughts?