Close the bottle and pop it into a dark cupboard. Half fill a bottle with sloes, cover them with sugar, fill the bottle with gin. I then prick over every sloe with a pin (yes really) to help the juices flow. Take the sloes home and wash them, remove any bugs, weevils etc, find some empty glass bottles (it's tough but you may have to drink the contents to empty them) or mason style jars. If you bite into one the flesh is greenish purple and will strip the moisture from your mouth! They are very bitter! The fruits are small, about the size of a small olive, and black but with a blue 'bloom' to them which will wipe off with a damp finger. 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. 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.
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