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jema

Sloes and elderberries and blackberries

Hows it coming where you live.

I did a scout of a few of my picking grounds this morning;

Elderberries some way off ripening, but look to be another bumber crop.

Sloes look to be very early again this year, not ready yet, but not looking more than a matter of 4 weeks away or so. But the crop to my eyes looks worse than last year, and I thought it was pretty poor last year Sad

Blackberries look to be typcially bumper Smile but quite some time off as one would expect.
nettie

The sloes are not far off here either Very Happy plus I've already taken a load of wild plums and bullaces from the common, a month earlier than i would have done normally. Blackberries are at least 3-4 weeks away.
cab

Elderberries looking like they're a while off yet, but don't let that fool you; they ripen fast when they get going.

Picked the first of the blackberries, which are always the sweetest. They're sitting in the fridge (having eaten some already) for making into ice cream.

Sloes are nearly ripe Shocked
jema

cab wrote:
Elderberries looking like they're a while off yet, but don't let that fool you; they ripen fast when they get going.

Picked the first of the blackberries, which are always the sweetest. They're sitting in the fridge (having eaten some already) for making into ice cream.

Sloes are nearly ripe Shocked


I did notice the odd one or two ripe blackberries. The sloes look like there are close to ripe, but very small so far.
Treacodactyl

In the places I've visited recently the sloes are some way off, elderberries seem very small and will not be ripe for a while. In our garden the leading blackberries are ripening. I've also seen some damsons that are still green and plenty of hazel nuts.
jema

Treacodactyl wrote:
In the places I've visited recently the sloes are some way off, elderberries seem very small and will not be ripe for a while. In our garden the leading blackberries are ripening. I've also seen some damsons that are still green and plenty of hazel nuts.


Funny how it varies from place to place, the elderberries here are look pretty much the right size, just as would be expected, no signs of ripening yet.
@Calli

Berries

By coincidence my 5 yr old has just returned from her morning forage with half a basket of very sweet blackberries!
In true downsizer fashion she goes out each morning to harvest fruits for her breakfast - started with loads strwberries excellent this year, gooseberries and blueberries. Now onto the wild crop as in the parts not yet cultivated explored! And if this crop anything to go by never will be....

She has also found rock crystals of a purity I would never have imagined amongts the rocky outcrops.
I love this place - imagine a child growing up in this fantastic area well that is why we moved here in first place - children keep their innocence a bit longer and community sports are big and I'll shut up sorry

We are expecting bumper crop blacks, sloes are slow, and elders not making the effort.
jema

Re: Berries

ExilesinGalway wrote:
By coincidence my 5 yr old has just returned from her morning forage with half a basket of very sweet blackberries!
In true downsizer fashion she goes out each morning to harvest fruits for her breakfast - started with loads strwberries excellent this year, gooseberries and blueberries. Now onto the wild crop as in the parts not yet cultivated explored! And if this crop anything to go by never will be....

She has also found rock crystals of a purity I would never have imagined amongts the rocky outcrops.
I love this place - imagine a child growing up in this fantastic area well that is why we moved here in first place - children keep their innocence a bit longer and community sports are big and I'll shut up sorry

We are expecting bumper crop blacks, sloes are slow, and elders not making the effort.


Sounds wonderful Smile

You say Sloe are slow, but they are traditionally a pick after the first frost fruit, and so in principle they should not be looking anywhere near close now.
@Calli

Is there anything else I can do with sloes as am not a great fan of sloe gin and there are only so many you can give away Laughing
cab

Sloes can be cooked down for a jelly if you like that sort of thing. They can also be used for a wine.
gil

here in an upland frost pocket in s. scotland, the elders are still flowering, the sloes are green and won't be ready till end september or october. wild rasps just starting up. tame rasps likewise but a bit further behind, and strawbs in full flow.

there is a huge difference in ripening time as you head further north. up in the hills, things are a fortnight later than in the hamlet four miles away, which in turn is a fortnight later than the nearest town (another four miles away, and a few hundred feet lower).
Mat S

Loads of unripe elderberries around. Some ripe blackberries, huge number of green 'uns. Some sloes on the bushes - again, seems early. Some cherries hanging on in there. Allotment rasps, strawb and gooseberries long gone.
sean

Lots of all of them here, none anywhere near ready though.
Stacey

ExilesinGalway wrote:
Is there anything else I can do with sloes as am not a great fan of sloe gin and there are only so many you can give away Laughing

You can always make the sloe gin and give it to me Very Happy
Treacodactyl

ExilesinGalway wrote:
Is there anything else I can do with sloes as am not a great fan of sloe gin and there are only so many you can give away Laughing


I've never made sloe gin but was given a bottle of Gordon's Sloe Gin for Christmas. I'm not that keen on it but I don't know if that's just how they made it or if I'd not like it myself if I made it.
jema

Treacodactyl wrote:
ExilesinGalway wrote:
Is there anything else I can do with sloes as am not a great fan of sloe gin and there are only so many you can give away Laughing


I've never made sloe gin but was given a bottle of Gordon's Sloe Gin for Christmas. I'm not that keen on it but I don't know if that's just how they made it or if I'd not like it myself if I made it.


I think the sweetness varies a lot with Sloe gin, my last years batch seems a winner with most people, but I think it is too sweet.
Mad Dad

Wild raspberries are ripe although not a big crop but the blackberries are nowhere near but will be a bumper crop this year.
cab

If you don't like sloe gin too sweet, start out with less sugar in it. You can always add more, but you can't take it out again.
Paddington Bear

MMM! Sloe gin, we had a very good harvest of sloes last year down in Hampshire and made several bottles of sloe gin.
The price of gin of course is the limiting factor, I read somewhere that juniper flavoured spirit can be used instead of gin. This is cheaper than gin as is lower proof- 20%, if you can find it.
The nearest we came to finding it on the web was Dutch Gin or jenevers(sp Question ?) although this would mean a trip to Holland to stock up unless you wanted to pay London prices.
Has anybody used this at all and if so where did they get the spirit?
jema

My recommendation is stick with gin and make it a cut above gut rot. e.g. supermarket gin, but nothing labeled "smart price".
jema

Had another scout today, not much change to be seen in a week.

I covered some of an area where last year I was left feeling that maybe others had beaten me to it on the Sloes. But looking today I now realise that the pickings are pretty measely regardless.

I can see that to make my quota on the Sloe Gin, I am going to have to strike out and find better foraging grounds Cool
vix

picking sloes

I have seen a good crop of sloe on the trees around the Bristol area, but I wouldn't recomend picking them yet. They get much plumper and more flavoursome if you leave them until much later. I usually pick in late September or October and have good gin ready for Christmas, although it becomes more amazing if left for a year. I also freeze them for a couple of nights rather than pricking the skins, and Keep some in the freezer in case I need to make another batch later on. I have found some wild Damson trees and am going to try damson gin as well this year, or maybe damson vodka. I use the discarden gin-soaked fruit to make chocolates for christmas, very yummy. Just chop flesh and add to melted chocolate, then fill moulds or ice cube trays and put in the fridge.
In my experience there are different types of sloe tree, some are heavy croppers with large blue fruit and may be right next to a tree with measly fruit.
jema

Certainly would not be pikcing yet, just scouting, they were so very early last year I would not want to miss the board.

I also use the freeze method, as traditionally Sloes are not meant to be picked for Gin until after the first frost.
dougal

Paddington Bear wrote:
MMM! Sloe gin...The price of gin of course is the limiting factor, ...

Should you happen to find yourself in Calais, or such parts, I can advise that from personal experience "Old Lady's" Gin, at under €10 a bottle (say £6), is perfectly OK with Sloes...
dougal

Re: picking sloes

vix wrote:
..I use the discarden gin-soaked fruit to make chocolates for christmas, very yummy. Just chop flesh and add to melted chocolate, then fill moulds or ice cube trays and put in the fridge.


That sounds rather better than Clarissa D-W's stuffing... Any particular suggestions for what chocolate takes best to this treatment? And what proportions would be advised?
nettie

I'll be giving that a go....they sell bars of sloe chocolate for six quid at the farm shop Shocked

I'm going to get a bar of dark Green and Blacks and just melt it and pour it on the sloes. Very Happy
jema

nettie wrote:
I'll be giving that a go....they sell bars of sloe chocolate for six quid at the farm shop Shocked

I'm going to get a bar of dark Green and Blacks and just melt it and pour it on the sloes. Very Happy


Sounds good, we tried ice cream last year with the remains, but did not do as good a job of it as I would have liked. Chocolate sounds better.
wellington womble

Scouted the sloes today - at one end of the hedge they are blue and powdery, at the other, defintitely green Confused . So after the first frost is the best time to pick? Not yet, then? I'll put the basket away Crying or Very sad
cab

wellington womble wrote:
Scouted the sloes today - at one end of the hedge they are blue and powdery, at the other, defintitely green Confused . So after the first frost is the best time to pick? Not yet, then? I'll put the basket away Crying or Very sad


Careful... Wait till the frosts these days and they're all gone!

Let me tell you a foraging secret... Most of the books on the topic were written in the seventies or early 80's. They're out of date. Across the UK things ripen earlier than ever, so you need to be looking out for fruit much, much earlier and you need to start asking WHY some things are better after a frost, and why things ripen when they do.

Sloes are better for gin after a frost for two reasons; firstly, the skin is somewhat permeated by being frozen (softening them up for alcohol getting in), and secondly after a frost the plant realises that few animals are still looking for berries, so it'll let the fruit go soft so that it ferments and produces alcohol, attracting creatures to eat it. There's some great enzymology there, but I digress.

So as sloes are now ripe WAY earlier than they used to be across most of England (you might get away with waiting for the frosts up in Scotland, I don't know) you should pick them earlier, put them in the freezer for a night, and then let them defrost; that then makes a great sloe gin Smile
jema

Saw my first really Sloe rich blackthorn bush today near Lechlade. I had to really force myself not to pick them there and then, as my sightings have been so poor.

I wonder what the earliest one can start is. Today seemed like it would be too personally greedy.
nettie

I bet they'll start miraculously appearing all over the place now, it's amazing how much more visible they are once they've turned blue.

My early morning forays onto the common have unearthed quite a few more laden plants in recent days Very Happy
sean

Someone has been along and cut back all the sloe bushes I was planning to pick from. Sad But I know where there are lots more. Very Happy
jema

Had another look round this morning, and the Elderberries are swiftly ripening, I think i'll be picking by Sunday Smile
mark

cab wrote:

Sloes are better for gin after a frost for two reasons; firstly, the skin is somewhat permeated by being frozen (softening them up for alcohol getting in), and secondly after a frost the plant realises that few animals are still looking for berries, so it'll let the fruit go soft so that it ferments and produces alcohol, attracting creatures to eat it. There's some great enzymology there, but I digress.
So as sloes are now ripe WAY earlier than they used to be across most of England (you might get away with waiting for the frosts up in Scotland, I don't know) you should pick them earlier, put them in the freezer for a night, and then let them defrost; that then makes a great sloe gin Smile


I think the main thing is not to pick them before they are fully ripe - not just look ripe! I actually think ripeness matters more than frost - but in most places frost preceeds ripeness! If you pick too early the fruit wil be full of tannin and any gin you make might have a bit of a rough edge to it!
It might be worth picking in stages and making some small batches at different times to experiment! That way you at least get some if you bush gets cleared - but don't waste a treeful and a load of gin by collecting a load to early whle you learn your lessons about when they are ripe in your locality

Mark
cab

mark wrote:

I think the main thing is not to pick them before they are fully ripe - not just look ripe! I actually think ripeness matters more than frost - but in most places frost preceeds ripeness! If you pick too early the fruit wil be full of tannin and any gin you make might have a bit of a rough edge to it!
It might be worth picking in stages and making some small batches at different times to experiment! That way you at least get some if you bush gets cleared - but don't waste a treeful and a load of gin by collecting a load to early whle you learn your lessons about when they are ripe in your locality

Mark


Great advice Mark Smile

My general trick for determining whether they're ripe enough is to taste them. If it's merely sour and nasty, it's ripe. If it's sour enough so it feels like my gums are peeling back, it's not ripe yet Smile

You get a feel for whether a sloe is ready or not. They're never really soft, but the ripe fruit has a little more give in it than an unripe one. I've made sloe gin with somewhat under ripe fruit, and although I didn't find it tanniny it was a little disappointing. How underripe does it have to be to be as you describe?
jema

I know my desire to see them ripe is tempered with my desire to get them whilst they are there Sad Waiting for a frost is simply not on the cards.
jema

Picked a frist very few elderberries today Smile more because they were there than for any real good reason. There are just so many round here I'll be making an awful lot of Elderberry wine without fear of running short. Smile

Also more importantly I wend back to an old Sloe hunting ground, and found quite an abundance Cool Maybe the Sloe gin won't be in short supplt after all Smile
Mrs Fiddlesticks

picked sloes today whilst we saw them.The old drovers track we walk along is full of blackberries, elderberries and sloes. The 1st year we were here, it must have been sloe gin weekend, the lane looked like an aisle at Tescos with all these families with their carrier bags. Last year they were very early as we walked along it at the same time as the previous year and they'd all gone!

Got 2 3/4lb of blackberries too! And a 1lb of damsons. A good foraging afternoon.
jema

Fiddlesticks Julie wrote:
picked sloes today whilst we saw them.The old drovers track we walk along is full of blackberries, elderberries and sloes. The 1st year we were here, it must have been sloe gin weekend, the lane looked like an aisle at Tescos with all these families with their carrier bags. Last year they were very early as we walked along it at the same time as the previous year and they'd all gone!

Got 2 3/4lb of blackberries too! And a 1lb of damsons. A good foraging afternoon.


I suppose one advantage of living here, is that no one is at the same game Smile
nature's child

Blackberries

Cab

Firstly I apologise if you've already posted regarding this topic, but read your post about making blackberries into ice cream. The blackberries are in ready here and I think I've done enough jam to last two years let alone one, it seems such a pity to waste them, please could you let me know how you make your ice cream.

I'm sure my boys will love it (even if they do get really messy when we collecting the blackberries!!!!!)

Thank you
wellington womble

so are sloes ready when they are blue and powdery, or blue and shiny? there are (or were last time I looked) both sorts in the hedge, and they did seem quite soft, although not a soft as currants - as soft as plums, maybe.
Parsnip Boy

Advice needed on picking elderberies/sloes etc

Hello! I am new to foraging and I need some help.

I have found a place that is laden with Blackberries, elderberrries, etc.
And I think there are sloes but I am not sure how to recognose them. They are small oval fruit (about 3cm across), bluish but powdery. Thy are in the hedge.

Could they be sloes. Any tips in recognising them for beginners?

Also, how do I know when elderberries are ripe?

Thank you!
jema

You have the nail on the head with "blueish/powdery" there is nothing with that powdery appearance like a Sloe. I will see if I can find a piccie in a minute.

Elderberries, are ripe when they are black throughout the bunch. They will get a bit "riper" but you are competing, so it may not be good to wait.
jema



Sloes Smile
jema

We picked our first sloes today, quite a hard slog for a little over 2lb Rolling Eyes We aim for at least 20lb so this could be a struggle this year.
cab

Re: Blackberries

nature's child wrote:
Cab

Firstly I apologise if you've already posted regarding this topic, but read your post about making blackberries into ice cream. The blackberries are in ready here and I think I've done enough jam to last two years let alone one, it seems such a pity to waste them, please could you let me know how you make your ice cream.

I'm sure my boys will love it (even if they do get really messy when we collecting the blackberries!!!!!)

Thank you


Sure.

Make a custard; start off with 200ml of double cream and 200ml of milk, get it scalding with some sugar (a couple of tablespoons), and pour it onto four egg yolks. Beat that together, and return to the pan and heat very gently, stirring all the time. When it just starts to thicken, take it off the heat and let it cool (keep coming back to it to stir it as you do.

Get lots of blackberries, cook them to a pulp with some sugar, and then put this through a sieve. Add some of it to the custard when it's cool, and the rest of it you want to cook down almost to a jam (you want it reduced and tasty).

Beat another 300ml of double cream, and fold the custard and cream together; taste it, you may want to add more fruit pulp, sugar or a squeeze of lemon. Make it too sweet and too acid, it'll lose some of that when it's frozen.

And freeze it; if you have an ice cream machine that's best, otherwise take it out every now and then while its freezing and stir it. When nearly done, carefully pour the reduced pulp onto folds you've made on the surface of the ice cream and very slightly stir it with the end of a spoon or a chopstick to make a ripple, and toss some more uncooked blackberries on top too.

Of course, if you've soaked some blackberries in sugar and whisky, this is a great use for them.
sean

Demijohn of damson gin on and some elderberries mashing for wine, so expect lots of stupid questions soon. Smile
jema

I just wandered out to yell at some people in a shop Rolling Eyes and decided to check out my "secret" Blackthorn bush on route. I got over 2lb of the best Sloes of the year so far Smile

I was saving this bush till last on the assumption that it is so hidden away no one else would get there first Wink

What is even better is that i have been gauging what I was picking at 2lb to a bottle of gin, whereas checking the recipe it is 1lb a litre Laughing

So I think with the 16lb or so I have now, I am fairly well set up!
jema

Laughing

Just done a recount, 22lb of Sloes. I think that sorts out Xmas prezzies.
cab

22lb of sloes... Bloody hell... Have you considered some sloe vodka as well as gin? Maybe some jelly, or even the odd gallon of sloe wine?
joanne

jema wrote:
Laughing

Just done a recount, 22lb of Sloes. I think that sorts out Xmas prezzies.


You are certainly going to get some funny looks when you go and buy 22 litres of Gin!!!! - wot do you use the cheapy gut rot stuff or a more sophisticated blend?

Joanne
jema

jocorless wrote:
jema wrote:
Laughing

Just done a recount, 22lb of Sloes. I think that sorts out Xmas prezzies.


You are certainly going to get some funny looks when you go and buy 22 litres of Gin!!!! - wot do you use the cheapy gut rot stuff or a more sophisticated blend?

Joanne


i'm going to enjoy that one. I'ts childish, but I plan to full the trolley and circle to near the exit, Morrisons have a particularily dumb security guard and it will be fun putting him through his paces Very Happy

To answer Cab, given that we have hit the 22 level, Vodka may get a look in. But Gin is much preferred by us. Though actually it would be more accurate to say by our friends. Whilst I make no claims to being Teetotal, Sloe Gin whilsts a taste I love does not fit our drinkg patterns. I think it is suited as an after dinner liquer and we just about never drink with meals.

Gin wise, in the interest of science Very Happy I compared Gins last year prior to the big buy. I decided that the very cheap "smart price" ASDA brand was just too 'orrible to risk. But that you would not need anything fancy.
Bugs

Of course you have to get the baby food/nappies, and then when you're half way through the till make a big show of counting up the cost and putting back said baby items...always wanted to do that...

When you say you rarely drink with meals...when on earth do you drink then? Instead of elevenses?
jema

Bugs wrote:


When you say you rarely drink with meals...when on earth do you drink then? Instead of elevenses?


Somewhere between 9-10pm it wil be rare for a bottle or two of wine not to be opened Smile
guest

sloes

ExilesinGalway wrote:
Is there anything else I can do with sloes as am not a great fan of sloe gin and there are only so many you can give away Laughing


i've heard you can make jelly or something. Does any1 no where to find a map showing where your local sloe berries grow? Confused
jema

Re: sloes

guest wrote:
ExilesinGalway wrote:
Is there anything else I can do with sloes as am not a great fan of sloe gin and there are only so many you can give away Laughing


i've heard you can make jelly or something. Does any1 no where to find a map showing where your local sloe berries grow? Confused


Laughing If there not obvious, then no forager is likely to tell you. I kn ow I have a few secret places Very Happy
Guest

Juniper Green organic gin is very good, I use that one.
cab

Re: sloes

guest wrote:

i've heard you can make jelly or something. Does any1 no where to find a map showing where your local sloe berries grow? Confused


I could show you on a map of where I live, but not necessarily where you live Smile

Keep your eye on the hedgerows, and you'll find sloes.
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