So i was out last week and came across a number of bushes with berries on them, the berries were black with some light blue shadowy shades on a lot of them. After a little bit of research at home i'm fairly sure they're sloes, and there are some possibilities with sloes. In one of Mears books he explains how to make some type of cakes/flapjacks out of them which he says are a good staple food, and they're also good for making gin apparently. My question is is it too late to harvest them? The ones i saw were beginning to look fairly wrinkled, and i'm a novice at this stuff so i don't know if that's a deal breaker for using them or not?
Sloes before hoes! Or a question about sloe gathering
- Thread starter Folcwigga
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Saw the best crop l’d ever seen on the dual carriageway going past Waitrose in Basingstoke last week - the bushes were absolutely heaving with them.
Be careful the thorns are evil things, they go in deep and break off leaving wounds that fester and make finger joints swell up - before antibiotics Is was not uncommon for farmers and hedge-layers to die from infections.
Be careful the thorns are evil things, they go in deep and break off leaving wounds that fester and make finger joints swell up - before antibiotics Is was not uncommon for farmers and hedge-layers to die from infections.
The old boy that taught me hedge laying was very strict on using proper, thick leather gloves for that very reason. Even today people still get very ill from the infections caused.
Yep, pick them and make Sloe Gin - it's medicinal you know 
Around here though you have to pick them much earlier because the farmers cut all the hedges with those dreadful hedge cutters as soon as they can (1st Sept). Putting them in the freezer has the same affect as waiting for the first frost.
However, I would rarely call a Blackthorn a bush! It's usually a small tree. There are other 'black fruit' bushes in the UK that you would not want to use so make absolutely sure.
Cheers,
Broch
Around here though you have to pick them much earlier because the farmers cut all the hedges with those dreadful hedge cutters as soon as they can (1st Sept). Putting them in the freezer has the same affect as waiting for the first frost.
However, I would rarely call a Blackthorn a bush! It's usually a small tree. There are other 'black fruit' bushes in the UK that you would not want to use so make absolutely sure.
Cheers,
Broch
As said, if the bushes are clad in the most evil thorns known to humanity bar Pyrocantha, then they're sloes. A tiny bite should see your mouth pucker with the bitterness.
This time of year, and with the drying, you'll get a very rich flavoured gin for some lovely summer cocktails.
This time of year, and with the drying, you'll get a very rich flavoured gin for some lovely summer cocktails.
Sounds good! I'll head back up there soon as i get a day free.
Interesting. I also read in the Mears book that the traditional way to gather them was to beat the bushes and gather them off the ground. Not entirely sure how to do that though, other than just grabbing a branch on the way and then laying into the Blackthorn like it owed me money. Also seems messy given how muddy everything is right now.
Yep, pick them and make Sloe Gin - it's medicinal you know
Around here though you have to pick them much earlier because the farmers cut all the hedges with those dreadful hedge cutters as soon as they can (1st Sept). Putting them in the freezer has the same affect as waiting for the first frost.
However, I would rarely call a Blackthorn a bush! It's usually a small tree. There are other 'black fruit' bushes in the UK that you would not want to use so make absolutely sure.
Cheers,
Broch
It looked like a large hedge, probably over 6 foot tall, and twisting round itself in a very uninviting way. It looked tangly, but i didn't specifically notice any thorns. Not saying there weren't any, but i didn't particularly see any with a fairly casual look. What other berry could pass as a sloe though?
Pick 'em. Carefully, it's a very scratchy art, and you'll get some.The thorns aren't too noticeable to a casual eye, within the hedge they'll just look like the beginning of small branches, but each is mounted with an evil thorn several inches long and it's all too easy to reach in for a stabbing.The treasure, particularly in the dried and frosted ones you've found, will be discovered in a good couple of months soaked in cheap gin and sugar. Add aromatics if you like, cloves, star anise, liquorice, cinnamon, more juniper, but I think it's best left to steep with just the sloes.
Only other species I can think of that might still carry some berries is Buckthorn, Rhamnus species. It's also a bit thorny, but the berries won't pucker your mouth with utter dry bitterness, and you'll get the trots if you eat a load of them. Which you won't, they're horrible.
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Mears is only 1/2 right.
The First Nations paleo method is to spread a blanket or hide on the ground.
Bend the bush over and strip it. Pick up the corners and you're done.
Lots of twigs, bugs and leaves that way.
Make a wide sloping trough with the blanket.
Slowly add the berries/fruits at the top.
They roll off the bottom, all the prickly stuff sticks to the blanket fuzz. Done.
It's supposed to be women's work but they are in short supply so I go out for 2 x 1/2 days.
That gets me 25lbs/10+kg that I want for winter and I don't bust a gut doing it.
The First Nations paleo method is to spread a blanket or hide on the ground.
Bend the bush over and strip it. Pick up the corners and you're done.
Lots of twigs, bugs and leaves that way.
Make a wide sloping trough with the blanket.
Slowly add the berries/fruits at the top.
They roll off the bottom, all the prickly stuff sticks to the blanket fuzz. Done.
It's supposed to be women's work but they are in short supply so I go out for 2 x 1/2 days.
That gets me 25lbs/10+kg that I want for winter and I don't bust a gut doing it.
Sloe Gin is the best "cough medicine" you perhaps haven't yet tried!
Suggest you don't flavour it with any extras; just gin, sloes and sugar. I add the sugar when I eventually drain the sloes from the gin after a couple of months as I figure the sloes surrender their flavour better in the spirit neat rather than in the syrup if you add the sugar at the same time. Of course, I have no evidence for this.
Some use vodka instead of gin.
I like to make Damson Gin too but damsons have a short season so you have to be pretty sharp. I remove the stones first from the damsons.
Some people put the drained sloes in chocolate or other comestible. (Careful of your teeth on the stones.) I like to put a few in a bowl with some plain yoghurt. Careful with the quantity of gin-soaked sloes or damsons in your pudding otherwise your legs may cease to work as reliably as normal.
Suggest you don't flavour it with any extras; just gin, sloes and sugar. I add the sugar when I eventually drain the sloes from the gin after a couple of months as I figure the sloes surrender their flavour better in the spirit neat rather than in the syrup if you add the sugar at the same time. Of course, I have no evidence for this.
Some use vodka instead of gin.
I like to make Damson Gin too but damsons have a short season so you have to be pretty sharp. I remove the stones first from the damsons.
Some people put the drained sloes in chocolate or other comestible. (Careful of your teeth on the stones.) I like to put a few in a bowl with some plain yoghurt. Careful with the quantity of gin-soaked sloes or damsons in your pudding otherwise your legs may cease to work as reliably as normal.
Thanks for the reminder. I haven't been on the lookout for them yet this year. Personally, I don't like sloe gin as i dislike sweet drinks, but I make it for other people who profess to like my sloe gin very much. They could be very polite liars, of course.
As for the picking after frost, if ripe before frost, sloes can be picked and put in the freezer before use. It's a bit late for making for this Christmas but sloe gin made this year will be excellent for 2018.
I agree with bear bait, all you need is sloes, sugar and gin. I make it in kilner jars which can be turned every two weeks to ensure an even mix of ingredients. Store as long as possible and strain off into bottles just before drinking. Cheers!
As for the picking after frost, if ripe before frost, sloes can be picked and put in the freezer before use. It's a bit late for making for this Christmas but sloe gin made this year will be excellent for 2018.
I agree with bear bait, all you need is sloes, sugar and gin. I make it in kilner jars which can be turned every two weeks to ensure an even mix of ingredients. Store as long as possible and strain off into bottles just before drinking. Cheers!
Don't forget that a "hoe" is also a slang term for a hooker, a *****, a prostitute.
Gives new meaning to the thread title.
Gives new meaning to the thread title.
That is exactly the reason I opened it!
I thought the OP would tell us a story about how he ended up picking one up after drinking a sloe gin or three.....
In Sweden I had a (destructive) way to harvest the one or two kilos of sloes I needed each year.
I snipped off branches with lots of berries, then shook those branches over a cloth.
Trick my dad taught me.
Not so destructive to be frank, I used the same bushes year after year, it was more a pruning.
Btw, sloes can be pickles even when frozen solid in mid winter, if they have not already been eaten by birds or fallen off. Sweater and better in fact!
I thought the OP would tell us a story about how he ended up picking one up after drinking a sloe gin or three.....
In Sweden I had a (destructive) way to harvest the one or two kilos of sloes I needed each year.
I snipped off branches with lots of berries, then shook those branches over a cloth.
Trick my dad taught me.
Not so destructive to be frank, I used the same bushes year after year, it was more a pruning.
Btw, sloes can be pickles even when frozen solid in mid winter, if they have not already been eaten by birds or fallen off. Sweater and better in fact!
I was taught to harvest black currants like that = cut away 1/2 of the older, gray wood each harvest.
Sounds counter-intuitive but it doesn't have a lot of impact on yield and the cuttings root so easily for more.
I wonder if you could harvest sloes this way and plant a bunch of cuttings ( "environmental enhancement.")
Sounds counter-intuitive but it doesn't have a lot of impact on yield and the cuttings root so easily for more.
I wonder if you could harvest sloes this way and plant a bunch of cuttings ( "environmental enhancement.")
I think it would work, but sloe bushes are a pain.....
Thorny, spread through root shoots ( I think) and highly invasive. The few times I owned land with them on, (and brambles) I had them removed.
Thorny, spread through root shoots ( I think) and highly invasive. The few times I owned land with them on, (and brambles) I had them removed.
Exactly. I still have a permanently deformed finger on my left hand from either a sloe (or a black thorn? not sure now) that went gammy and didnt want to heal.
Several years ago I made some sloe gin, but has anyone else tried sloe Calvados, now you are talking. I just did it exactly the same. Picked the sloes when there had been a frost or 2, steeped them in kilner jars with sugar and calvados. To say it is excellent is an understatement
If you use any flavoured, naturally or chemically, alcohol and steep sloe berries in, you will not get the 'true' lovely sloe flavor.
Get a bottle of Vodka and try. Sugar? minimum a tea spoon in the bottle as it brings out the flavor more.
Trust me, I am a reforming Vodka drinker and flavourer!
Get a bottle of Vodka and try. Sugar? minimum a tea spoon in the bottle as it brings out the flavor more.
Trust me, I am a reforming Vodka drinker and flavourer!
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Is there different nomenclature in different parts of the UK? Around here sloe = blackthorn = Prunus spinosa. Actually, around here the sloe is the fruit and the blackthorn is the shrub.
