Out and about Foraging.

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Greg

Full Member
Jul 16, 2006
4,338
263
Pembrokeshire
John Fenna paid me a visit yesterday, and when he arrived we went into Haverfordwest for a bit of Urban Foraging and a bit of haggling at the local Army Surplus store.(The haggling was very successful!)
After the rather unsuccessful urban foraging in the charity shops we decided to go to my local woods and have a look around, this turned out to be alot better with us finding quite a number of different types of fungi (although we didn't identify any!:o ) including a massive polypore on a very old beech tree. We also had a look at an old badger set and we found signs of otter in the form of it's scat.
Unfortunately neither of us had a camera so I'm afraid there are no photos this time.

On the way back to my house, we passed a field of Cat Tails of which I harvested half a dozen for John. A little further up the country lane is an old broken down mansion of sorts that dates back to King Henry VIII, this is where John spotted a large amount of sloes in the hedgerow and you guessed it we harvested about 1lb of the fruits for John to make his beloved Sloe Gin.
On looking around the old ruins we found a couple of different types of fungi including King Alfred's Cakes and some polypores.

We finally got back to my house and I showed John an old tree just around the corner that is covered in old and large Horse Hoof fungus and also a large species of polypore.
A very satisfactory day in my view and this morning I went and harvested about 1.6Kg of sloes so I can have a go at making my first batch of sloe gin! They are in the freezer now and I'll start tomorrow afternoon. I can't wait....!:D
 
Mmmm, sloe gin! it's super simple and absolutely gorgeous!

Not too sure about quantities but it's something like:

3/4 bottle gin (you need the space for the sloes)

***** the sloes all over, think you need about 3/4lb and dump them in the bottle

add sugar, about 1/2lb iirc

again, you'll have to find amounts for yourself but well worth it!

then you forget about it for three - four months, give it a shake now and then.

Strain the liquid to remove bits and the sloes - which make nice sweeties!

Nectar on a cold february morning, sweet, tasty and warming.

I'd love to do some more this year but I'm struggling to find sloes.

careful not to spill any (never waste alcohol!) I think it would stain things a treat!
 
Not fair, there have been next to no sloes near me this year :(
I usually fill an old scrumpy bottle two thirds with sloes and cover with sugar ( i dont measure any amount). Shake the bottle each day until the sugar has dissolved and then add gin or vodka, depending on what i have. I usually leave it for about 6-10 weeks. Tastes delicious.
 

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