Sloes? ID and harvest questions.

[BigShot]

Hi folks, though I've been on the lookout for the white flowers pre-leaf in springtime I've yet to find a blackthorn, until now maybe.

I was out foraging for some wine ingredients yesterday (disappointingly masses of the berries had gone off on the trees so I'm a bit short on quantity now) and on the way home a bush heavy with these things caught my eye.

I've taken a cutting to identify it but can't find my pocket books about flowers and trees so am throwing it open to the knowledge of the masses (that's you lot).

If they are sloes it brings me onto a couple of further questions.
While looking for some info about this stuff online today I've seen a few people saying sloes are in early this year and it seems a fair number have been out collecting already.

I know it's the done thing to leave them on for the first frost, but in the state of ripeness these things are in, are they likely to last until then without rotting?
How ripe do they look? The berries are about 1cm or more accross.

The other concern is, obviously, the longer I leave them unpicked, the more likely it is some other bugger will steal... MY... sloes!

So - what do you think?

 

[Toddy]

Them's sloes, Lad

Have at them quick. So long as they aren't green, they'll do. You can always pop ripe ones into the freezer until you're ready to deal with them. Unripe ones, well, I put them in a bowl with a ripe banana next to them this year (HWMBLT was a little too eager in his picking) and it turned them purple within the week. They are steeping in Whisky as we speak.
That was over a month ago, but I was given a bag load on Sunday that are ready to use, they're going into Gin later this week.

atb,
M

 

[scrogger]

I went out with the dogs for a long walk this morning and found a fab few bushes dripping with them!! We are going to pick them in the morning.

 

[BigShot]

I'm not sure how bit the haug will be so I'm not making plans for it just yet...

...I've seen some good looking recipes for sloe gin (one of which involves fermenting the sloes first giving a slightly stronger liqueur) and a couple for sloe wine too. I'm having a hard time making my mind up so will probably let the harvest size make it up for me.

Thanks for the reply Toddy, your opening two sentences really made me chuckle. Quick, I shall be. I'm absolutely buried in work at the moment but I think we could bet all of our farms that I'll find some time to get them before anyone else beats me to it (well, maybe not the whole farms, a couple of fields would be reasonable though).

Good luck with the picking, scrogger. Let us know how it goes.


I'm glad I've actually seen a blackthorn now. Now I've actually seen it in person I expect I'll find them much easier to spot next time. I might even go looking for them when I've topped up my elderberry harvest enough to get a gallon of wine done (I reckon I'm about half a carrier bag short).

 

[BigShot]

Is there anything that looks like blackthorn/sloe that we shouldn't be picking and eating (or drinking)? I've still got some remnants of the "that's poisonous" default setting a lot of people apply to everything but blackberries and strawberries.

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Not that I can think of. Bullaces look like sloes, but you can use them the same way...

 

[BigShot]

Cheers.
Am I right in thinking Bullaces don't come on a thorny bush?

 

[durulz]

I've never found a bullace (at least, not that I can think of. I may have found one and confused it with a damson).
Which reminds me, damsons and sloes look very similar. Damsons are a bit bigger though. But, like bullaces, they are perfectly edible and can be used in exactly the same way. And they make a lovely jam.
I think you're all round safe. If they are a deep purple colour, covered in a pale purple blush (which may have been washed away in the rain), about the size of your thumb nail, and the branches have thorns...well, they be sloes!

 

[Melonfish]

the brown on those sloe's i take it this is not some sort of blight but some regular thing?
and am i right in saying that they're ripe when they're green inside?
if so i'll be collecting a tonne of these this weekend, found a stash on my way home (also almost ran over two pheasants and a squiggle)
Col (Calibanzwei) found a fantastic crop outside his office! he's been collecting loads.
in fact he left a load in my freezer last night

 

[Cyclingrelf]

Cheers.
Am I right in thinking Bullaces don't come on a thorny bush?

Yes, that's right, but otherwise pretty similar. Slightly larger, but not much in it.

 

[relfy]

Mmm.... gin....

 

[Tony]

We took a bucket's worth off our tree on Monday tasty straight of the tree. We'd already missed loads of them that were shrivelled up etc.

good stuff

 

[BigShot]

I got a PILE of the things - so far enough for the Sloe Wine I'm going to try making once I've got the elderberry wine out of the bucket and into a demijohn!
Then there's enough for 2 bottles of gin (gonna do one as normal and one with the berries fermented) with a load to spare too! All being well I'll be back at the weekend and should get a similar haul.
I think I'm going to need to order some of those Le Parfait "French kilner" jars. I'd get some of the Asda ones but I've heard the seals are pants and, to be honest, I still like to avoid supermarkets wherever possible!


Tony - there were quite a lot of shrivelled ones on this one too. Gotta say I was a bit surprised but there you have it. Any idea why they are so early this year?


Cyclingrelf - thanks for that. I thought as much.


Durulz - the maze of puffy red scratches and sloes all over my hands say "thorny" and the berries fit your description perfectly - the blue blush (yeast?) on them was really pretty and gave way to a VERY deep purple below.


Melonfish - the brown bits are kinda dry. You often see something similar on apples and pears I think. A slightly rough dry brown bit that doesn't just scratch off, but doesn't appear to be anything nasty. It's certainly nothing like tomato or potato blight, if that's what you meant.

 

[durulz]

the brown on those sloe's i take it this is not some sort of blight but some regular thing?

Nah, you often see that. Just the rigours of living life outside in the elements without being sprayed by chemicals and stuff. Quite natural and normal for a few to have 'scars'. So long as they feel firm and fresh, all's well. If in doubt slice them open along the brown marks - if the flesh is intact beneath then all is fine.

 

[Melonfish]

sweet cheers guys, off to get loads today YAY sloes!

 

[Logit]

just heading out myself to get some..... sloe gin for christmas! Yum!!

 

[BigShot]

Durulz - thanks for that confirmation.

Logit and Melonfish - happy picking, now we just need to see if our blackthorn cuts and scratches heal before the gin's ready at Christmas! Mine still look a bit puffy and sting in the shower.

I think the rain's stopping here so I might have even more in a short while!

How did your foraging go? Decent haul?

 

[VirusKiller]

now we just need to see if our blackthorn cuts and scratches heal before the gin's ready at Christmas!

LOL! I got my cuts and scratches this afternoon, but got off very lightly indeed (apart from a couple of kilos of sloes that is ).

 

[BigShot]

Nicely put!
I'm just getting my Elderberry wine on the go (yeast is in the starter bottle as I type and in about 10 minutes it will be going into the must) so in about a week I'll be ready to start my sloe wine and fermented sloe gin. I'm not sure which one I'll do first but I should be starting a normal sloe gin tomorrow (or at least soon after then).

 

[Melonfish]

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=587629#post587629

my little haul! and yes me and SWMBO are covered in small cuts! heh worth it tho.