Damsons and Sloes

[MClan]

Hi,

I'm quite new to all this foraging although I've picked brambles and mulberries as a little girl.
I've found loads of cherry plum trees recently and one just around the corner from my house which nobody else appears to have spied (shhhhh!) Apples, crabapples and brambles of course.
When is the best time to pick apples around now isn't it?

Anyway, to the point, I've also come across loads of fruit looking like oval plums (leaves look the same as cherry plums more or less), the fruit is quite dark purple/blue in colour and as there were many different locations I am not quite sure if they had thorns or not. From memory not.
Is it true that the easiest way to tell the difference between damsons and sloes is that sloes have thorns and damsons tend to hang on little stalks like the cherry plums?
I will attempt to add a photo at some stage, but I'm not quite sure how to do it? Is the easiest way via a signature?

Karen

[Thomzo]

Hi
Yes, you're right about the differences between sloes and damsons. Also, sloes tend to be smaller than damsons. A large sloe is about the size of a grape but most around here are much smaller - more like a peanut. Sloes tend to be quite hard and are usually covered by a kind of whiteish bloom which rubs off (as are damsons). You should really leave sloes until the frost has removed the bloom otherwise they won't be soft enough to use but if you want to get to them before someone else does then you can pick them earlier. Some people reckon that putting them in the freezer helps to soften them up for use.

The leaves of sloes (the blackthorn bush) also tend to be smaller than plums or cherries.

If you know how, then make your photo file size as small as you can. Most packages have a 'size' setting which may give an option to resize for websites, e-mails etc. Chose the smallest. Then you can just add the photograph in the full editor by choosing the 'upload attachment' tab below the box that you are typing in. Here's a pic of a cupcake that I added just so that I could do it as I was typing up the instructions.

Enjoy.

Zoe

(p.s. now off to find that cherry bush - only joking)

[oldjerry]

I can' t look at a cake at the minute I'm on a diet,stop tormenting me.(I love the way the icing dribbles into the edges of the paper stop it,stopit...) Anyhow,to tell the difference between a sloe and a damson,bite it.If you you don't cringe,it's a damson.Pack sloes in a bottle (prick first) then cover with gin or vodka leave a few months , strain,put in fresh bottles then hide away and drink in secret.

[MClan]

Yum Zoe. The cupcake looks yummy, including the icing. (which ironically I don't like). I tried one of the plums and it was fairly sour. Not sure will have to check as i love sour things.

I took the photos with my iPhone and rarely get to go on the computer. I'd have to prise my husband's fingers off first so I was hoping to upload them from my phone.

Karen

[Millymollymandy]

Then I think it was a damson as you'd know if you had tried a sloe - you wouldn't be describing it as 'fairly sour'. Damsons are small and round and black but they do get sweeter as they ripen. I suggest you google the two to look at piccies of the fruit and leaves to help you with ID. I don't know about uploading photos from phones onto this site!

[dingdong]

Morning all, Isn't it brillliant to read what everyone is finding and making. We have several 'buckets ' of various fruits on their way to becoming wine and jars of fruit and jams . You find yourself going what's that bush and can I eat it Great fun.

[AngeB]

I've just realised that I've been giving people damson vodka for years and calling it sloe vodka - oops! It tasted nice though and now I can't wait to make sloe vodka to see the difference!

[Thomzo]

Personally I prefer damson gin and vodka to sloe. It's a smoother taste and doesn't need so much sugar so it's not so sugary (obviously).

Zoe

[AngeB]

I went out for sloes yesterday, but had read a few things on t'interweb about leaving them for the first frost. The ones I picked were very much ripe and in fact some of them were so soft they squidged in my hand while I was trying to prick them, so I'm glad I ignored the thing about the frost. Yummy!

[hmk]

I thought I knew the difference between sloes and damsons, but last year found some that definitely seemed to be a cross between the two (not sure if that's even possible, but it wasn't clear which they were).
In the end I made Slamson Gin and Slamson Jelly, both of which were very nice whichever they were

Re:Damson Gin instead of Sloe- I entered my Damson Gin into a Sloe Gin category at our village show and came 3rd!

Sorry, now going to put in a few gratuitous smilies at the insistence of 2 youngest children "helping" me type this post...



Guess which my son chose, and which my DD2 wanted

HMK

[oldjerry]

That was probably a bullace.