I've been keeping my eye on some sloes (Prunus spinosa) locally and managed to find some time to pick them. There are not many but enough for a half bottle of sloe gin, which should be ready just in time for new year.
I find sloes are always a lot smaller up here in our upland hills but they still do the job. The best we ever picked were in Yorkshire when we were staying with David's parents a few years ago.
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| Sloes on the tree |
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| Picked ready for taking home |
Although I had the plants growing in the boundary hedge in my last garden, they rarely flowered, never mind produce fruit! It was just too cold and high there. Regardless, the plants will grow anywhere, easily coping with clay soil and the wild windy cold weather forming tight dense hedging as long as you watch out for the thorns! The flowers and fruit are a bonus on a tough hedge.
The recipe for sloe gin is quick and easy, as follows:
Sloe Gin
1 lb Sloe berries, washed and pricked all over
1 litre Gin
250g sugar
1. Once you have weighed, washed and pricked the fruit all over, place them in a wide-necked bottle or seal-able jar (we used a litre Kilner jar)
2. Place the sugar in with the sloes, then pour over the gin.
3. Give the jar a good shake to dissolve the sugar then place in a dark cupboard.
4. Shake every day until the sugar has all dissolved.
5. After about 3 months strain out the sloes through
muslin, bottle, store in a dark cupboard, and wait.
Sloe gin is a popular drink at Christmas, coinciding with it maturing. The colour is an amazing deep burgundy already and I can't wait to see it when it is ready to drink.
As well as sloe gin I believe you can make a jelly for eating with meat and jam with sloes and apples. I'll maybe try that next year if I can get some more sloes.
Have a look at some of our other Hedgerow Bounty blogs
Brambles
Elderflower champagne
Follow us on Instagram @quirkybirdgardener
 |
| Sloe gin ingredients |
The recipe for sloe gin is quick and easy, as follows:
Sloe Gin
1 lb Sloe berries, washed and pricked all over
1 litre Gin
250g sugar
1. Once you have weighed, washed and pricked the fruit all over, place them in a wide-necked bottle or seal-able jar (we used a litre Kilner jar)
2. Place the sugar in with the sloes, then pour over the gin.
3. Give the jar a good shake to dissolve the sugar then place in a dark cupboard.
4. Shake every day until the sugar has all dissolved.
5. After about 3 months strain out the sloes through
muslin, bottle, store in a dark cupboard, and wait.
Sloe gin is a popular drink at Christmas, coinciding with it maturing. The colour is an amazing deep burgundy already and I can't wait to see it when it is ready to drink.
As well as sloe gin I believe you can make a jelly for eating with meat and jam with sloes and apples. I'll maybe try that next year if I can get some more sloes.
Brambles
Elderflower champagne
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