A sloe is the fruit of the blackthorn, they have white flowers in the spring (spot them then and make a note where to return to!)The small tree or large bush will usually be growing in a mixed hedgerow, there are thorns on a blackthorn (the clue is in the name!) so take care. And then I pick my sloes.ĭon't try this unless you are sure of what you are picking. I buy the cheapest gin the supermarket has to offer. Sloes are a very British thing to flavour gin with though and while I don't actually make my own gin (there are limits!) it is nice to have something you have (almost) made free. I'm the sort of mum that will pack some empty tupperware on an autumn walk in case we spot black berries, but I'm not usually keen enough to bring the car to a halt on an A road and climb on the car roof to pick apples growing among the trees on the verge (ok I did that once). So just imagine the joy of free hand picked food!įoraging is something that can be taken to extremes but I'm a fairly lazy forager.
That was really nice too.Fabulous foraging! I love free food - who doesn't! Free food tastes better than any other kind except maybe food you grew or picked yourself. Peel and de-seed, slice into pieces, like peaches in a tin, add vodka, add sugar, presto! quince vodka. I also made quince vodka, which was done the same as the sloes.
I tell you, it kicks bigger than a donkey. I called it hedgerow vodka and gave a lot of it away as christmas presents, but I do have half a small bottle left for me. I did have shake quite vigorously to melt it all in, but the resulting drink is really really good, even if I say so myself. So in the end, I just added it straight to some vodka
It turned into a thick fruity really dark syrup that wouldn't set not matter how many times I boiled it. In it were rosehips, the big fat ones, a few sloes, some quince, hawberries, and crabapples I added various things ot the jelly to try and get it to set but it wouldn't. I went scrumping for various things, and made hedgerow jelly. I made something slightly weird but very very nice last year.
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