Bumper crop
- Thread starter Adi007
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Adi,
I think that you're right, I have a blackthorn in the garden which already has the makings of a good crop of sloes, last year was also a very good year. For me it's sloe gin all the way, and over the last couple of years I've been making sloe vodka too, fantastic stuff in the depths of winter.
The elders are looking promising, however I'm hoping to spend the month of September up on Islay with the in laws so there's a chance that I may miss some of the crop here in West Wales, I'll see. For me, during the eearly summer I go for the ubiquitous elderflower cordial, but I also make elderflower fritters which are absolutely beautiful as a desert, with ice cream or sorbet etc. For the berries I make the elderberry elixir to the recipe that Carluccio
gives in his wild food book, I can recommend it, I've been making it for the last three years or so now and it always goes down a storm. I make two batches of a couple of litres each, one of which remains non alcoholic and can be poured over ice cream etc. and the other which I fortify with the crap whisky blends that I get given, just the job for colds etc. or just to drive the chills away.
Another of Carluccios recipes that go down a storm withy us is his blackberry granita, a bit of a pain to make, but well worth the effort and a world of difference from the stuff that is available commercially.
My mouth's watering already!!!
I think that you're right, I have a blackthorn in the garden which already has the makings of a good crop of sloes, last year was also a very good year. For me it's sloe gin all the way, and over the last couple of years I've been making sloe vodka too, fantastic stuff in the depths of winter.
The elders are looking promising, however I'm hoping to spend the month of September up on Islay with the in laws so there's a chance that I may miss some of the crop here in West Wales, I'll see. For me, during the eearly summer I go for the ubiquitous elderflower cordial, but I also make elderflower fritters which are absolutely beautiful as a desert, with ice cream or sorbet etc. For the berries I make the elderberry elixir to the recipe that Carluccio
gives in his wild food book, I can recommend it, I've been making it for the last three years or so now and it always goes down a storm. I make two batches of a couple of litres each, one of which remains non alcoholic and can be poured over ice cream etc. and the other which I fortify with the crap whisky blends that I get given, just the job for colds etc. or just to drive the chills away.
Another of Carluccios recipes that go down a storm withy us is his blackberry granita, a bit of a pain to make, but well worth the effort and a world of difference from the stuff that is available commercially.
My mouth's watering already!!!
Sloe gin
Sloe vodka
Blackberry jam
Blackberry vinegar (can't stand the stuff but mum and SWMBO swear it is the best cough remidy bar none)
Blackberrys in the freezer for the months to come either whole or cooked as blackberry and apple
Elderberry wine
and probably loads of other things I havn't thought of yet!
Cheers
David
Sloe vodka
Blackberry jam
Blackberry vinegar (can't stand the stuff but mum and SWMBO swear it is the best cough remidy bar none)
Blackberrys in the freezer for the months to come either whole or cooked as blackberry and apple
Elderberry wine
and probably loads of other things I havn't thought of yet!
Cheers
David
Oh and forgot to say treerat stew from an earlier thread will be on the menu!bushwacker bob said:
David
Anyone else noticed that stuff seems earlyier than usual this year? I had my first blackberries last night while out looking for a spoon blank.
Dave
Dave
Thanks for the tip Mark, but I don't think I'll try it cos the only thing I put in my whisky is a drop more! 
): ): ):
Dave (hic!)
): ): ): Dave (hic!)
Yep,MartiniDave said:
I've been munching on blackberrys for a week or so now, I'd usually recon sometime round mid Aug for the first with peak crops 3 or 4 weeks later round here.
Cheers
David
Take a look over at http://www.phenology.org.uk/ before this year their earliest reported ripe blackberry was 9 Aug, this year 4th July! At the moment ripe blackberrys seem to be as far north as a line between the humber and mersey estuarys, fith one report from Lancaster area!dtalbot said:
I guess people like us are in tune to natures cycles more than most so I think we could all help out phenology by recording what we see!
Cheers
David
I went for a hedgerow forage today.Within a 50 metre hedge I collected Hazel nuts,bullace,blackberries,haws,rosehips and elderberries ( and some cultivar plums) The trees were heaving with fruit and I've probably had the most vitamin enriched munch since Gerry Haliwell lived on vitamin pills ):
):
G
Ginja
Guest
Sorry for the puerile humour here folks ... but was just scan-reading the thread headings and thought, for a moment, that this was something completely different ... what bears do in the woods, perhaps?! Sounded painful!
Interesting thread nonetheless. I've made some sloe gin in the past - always a winner (good things come to those who wait, eh).
Cheers,
G
Interesting thread nonetheless. I've made some sloe gin in the past - always a winner (good things come to those who wait, eh).
Cheers,
G
I'm getting loads of wild food here in Norfolk, even in the city there are masses of Hazelnuts, blackberries, elderberries, haws & hips plus a few fungi. That's within 500 yards of my flat.
On a piece of land where I've been doing some tree planting over the last few years there's even more including literally tons of crab apples in the old hedgerows so I'm going to have a go at some crab apple cider.
It's supposed to be a sign of a harsh winter so leave some for the other conneseurs of wild food when you're gathering it !!!!
On a piece of land where I've been doing some tree planting over the last few years there's even more including literally tons of crab apples in the old hedgerows so I'm going to have a go at some crab apple cider.
It's supposed to be a sign of a harsh winter so leave some for the other conneseurs of wild food when you're gathering it !!!!
I went for a fantastic forage too, in Birmingham!!! Their canal system is great, tons of Rosehips (going to attempt making syrup tonight), loads of acorns and loads of Haws. Great to know you can find stuff on the way too work as well as the local woods!!
Hi all,
Am I too late for Hazel nuts?? :?:
I have been looking around the woods here in Lincs - can't find a single one.
Please forgive my gaping ignorance on this subject but do the nuts only grow on certain types of hazel or have the squirrels simply nicked the lot?
Am I too late for Hazel nuts?? :?:
I have been looking around the woods here in Lincs - can't find a single one.
Please forgive my gaping ignorance on this subject but do the nuts only grow on certain types of hazel or have the squirrels simply nicked the lot?
