Sloe Check

[Mobile Chicane]

mrsshpub said:

Mobile Chicane said:

FasterFreddy said:

Any tips as to the best sort of places to go sloe hunting?

I realise hedgerows are where the blackthorn is usually found, but has anyone got any advice where to look and how to spot them from a distance?

Roadside hedges. I look out for big shows of blossom in spring - blackthorn has smaller whiter blossoms than hawthorn - then go back in the autumn.

Roadside hedges are a possibility — but all that pollution.......? If there are blackthorns on the roadside, there could well be 'cleaner' specimens along nearby public footpaths.

Good point. Where I pick them, the hedge is well set back, but it's still a busy road...

[muppetdave]

Spotted some nice supplies up near our cottage in Yorkshire, but yet to see what's lurking around the fields on the parent's farm, fingers crossed!

[kiteless]

Mobile Chicane said:

mrsshpub said:

Mobile Chicane said:

FasterFreddy said:

Any tips as to the best sort of places to go sloe hunting?

I realise hedgerows are where the blackthorn is usually found, but has anyone got any advice where to look and how to spot them from a distance?

Roadside hedges. I look out for big shows of blossom in spring - blackthorn has smaller whiter blossoms than hawthorn - then go back in the autumn.

Roadside hedges are a possibility — but all that pollution.......? If there are blackthorns on the roadside, there could well be 'cleaner' specimens along nearby public footpaths.

Good point. Where I pick them, the hedge is well set back, but it's still a busy road...

Our sloes last year were picked from a hedge adjacent to a fairly busy road, but still produced very good gin. Although some of the more rural bushes that didn't bear fruit last year are looking much healthier this year, so looking forward to a compare and contrast.

[muppetdave]

rhinochopig said:

Not at all true - take the gin soaked sloes and turn them into sloe chocolates.

How do you incorporate them in to your chocolates?

[rhinochopig]

muppetdave said:

rhinochopig said:

Not at all true - take the gin soaked sloes and turn them into sloe chocolates.

How do you incorporate them in to your chocolates?

Well after you've squeezed them through a gauze to get the majority of the liquor out, you melt the chocolate and simply stir in the sloes, walnuts, and other ingredients.

There are quite a few recipes if you google sloe gin chocolates.

[muppetdave]

rhinochopig said:

muppetdave said:

rhinochopig said:

Not at all true - take the gin soaked sloes and turn them into sloe chocolates.

How do you incorporate them in to your chocolates?

Well after you've squeezed them through a gauze to get the majority of the liquor out, you melt the chocolate and simply stir in the sloes, walnuts, and other ingredients.

There are quite a few recipes if you google sloe gin chocolates.

Cheers, we weren't sure if you were actually putting sloes 'pieces' in or not. I'm guessing it's not the case, but when we've used other fruit 'juices' it's crystalised which isn't ideal, hence the question.

[Mobile Chicane]

Try this with vodka and bullaces (wild damsons).

I'm just sampling some of last year's batch now.

Bullaces have the same 'almondy' notes as sloes, but underpinned by a luscious red berry fruitiness.

Lovely.

[bint]

Cycling home today, and the cycle paths are full of them, all nice and purple already. Now the problem I have is trying to decide how long until I pick.

I've pretty much decided that frosts will be very late, if at all this year, so will be using the freezer option, but trying to restrain a little longer.....

Oh and if anyone wants some flip top glass bottles, a la Grolsch style, 1 litre for 99p http://www.selections.com/GF9163/roma-bottle-1000m...
Should get some for next years Elderflower champagne and not make 'im indoors drink lots of Grolsch again...

[kiteless]

bint said:

Now the problem I have is trying to decide how long until I pick.

Here in Shropshire, I've seen some signs of a cold and early winter. Housemartins have fledged their young a lot earlier, and some young trees surrounding the office car park have got autumn leaves already. At the moment I reckon on late September to pick.