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I had a lightbulb moment at 2 this morning, I remembered when I was a kid we used to mess about picking sloes and telling little kids they would be poisoned if they ate them. Ahem, anyway.......my DH is very into eating for free, and I suddenly recalled these sloe bushes/trees from the past. But, when i eventually get down there to see if they are still about, what can I do with them? When are they ready for picking? Im sure Ive heard of sloe jam, and sloe gin, what else? Cheers me dears

we used to eat them straight of the tree as kids They are best picked after the first frost, I believe. yep, sloe gin and I don't see why they couldn't be used for jam. Might be nice as a 'hedgerow' jam

They make a lovely Hedgerow jelly when combined with blackberries and crab apples. As you mentioned, Sloe Gin too. I now use the Hugh F-W recipe which only calls for 2 oz sugar instead of 12 oz, and you get the full flavour of the sloes without the sickliness of too much sugar. Just make sure they are properly ripe - have had the first frost on them, or if you live in milder parts of the country, well into September before picking. I have tasted Sloe Gin made with green sloes and it is NOT an experience I would choose to repeat - I should think it made Verjuice taste like Mead in comparison!

I think I've seen a recipe for a Sloe sauce to go with venison (don't ask me where as I've got 200 cookery books and a good few cookery magazines too). I think it would go very well, and probably with duckling too.

Ahh so we are looking at autumn time for these? I recall them being out in summer, but tasting awful so steered well clear of them, now I know why!

i would recommend making sloe gin.

i have done this before, and if you pick when the fruits arrive (normally best after first frost i believe), then the gin is generally ready for chrismas time, and once the gin is drunk, the sloes go well with ice-cream.... yum!!!

Type sloe gin in to google and look for the www.sloebiz website for all you need to know about sloe gin. I make sloe gin every year plus damson vodka and cherry brandy using jars of morello cherries from Lidl.
I have never tried this, my uncle always used to put a piece of the old fashioned cough candy twist in every bottle of sloe gin he made.
When you have made your sloe gin, the fruits are good if stoned and dipped in molten chocolate. The cherries from the cherry brandy are even better, I eat them with yoghurt on. Its not just the fruit that gets stoned!!
Regards, Duncan.

Nice one Duncan

Great site.. although I had to put in an extra dot to make it www.sloe.biz

Will have to keep a close eye out for sloes in hedgerows near us. We got some blackthorn hedge plants in the winter but I doubt they'll have sloes yet - they are only small.

The birds round here have them well before the frosts, so I pick in late Sept/early Oct and freeze them to weaken the skins. Seemed to work OK! I'm right with you about the less sweet sloe gin... I want something that makes you grit your teeth, not rush off and brush them!

I think there should be an absolutely bumper crop this year, what with everything being held back by the snow and cold weather staying late. When I was out riding the other day (at just the right height to check out the hedgerow bounty), the blackthorn bushes I came across were absolutely laden with fruit. Whoopee! I shall fill the freezer, especially since last year all I picked were a measly 12 ozs of wizened fruits. I have also had a bumper Gooseberry crop and my 6 of my 7 apple trees look very promising.

Further to my last reply on this subject, we had a massive crop of sloes in this area last year, they looked like bunches of grapes on the branches! I would go along with not waiting for a frost before harvesting sloes, usually the frosts are so late that they have either shrivelled up or the birds have had them. I made two batches last year, one batch frozen overnight, one batch with the fruit pricked and there is no great difference between the two.
Regards, Goldfang.

Anybody tried not doing either - just bunging untouched fruit straight in?

I made sloe vodka last year...erm, think tom and barbara's peapod wine!!! great for dares and parties, not so good for quaffing. my sloe gin wass much better. I use same weight sugar to fruit, leave for 3 months turning each week, strain, add more sugar and leave for another 3 months with the same turning. yummo!