are there any sloes about this year?

newleaf

We've had a very poor year for fruit. No plums, damsons, raspberries or decent apples. The cherries and blackcurrants were the only things that did well in our garden this year.

oliveoyl

oldMcDonald wrote: »

....and you think you can get away with saying that and then not giving a recipe - however vague that recipe may be! Tsk!

Recipe, please, oliveoyl!

It is very vague.... I think I used around the same quantity of brambles and elderberries (rough guess an ice-cream tub of each), cleaned then boiled with cloves, fresh ginger, a cinamon stick, 2 lemons (all of them, just hacked up), and sugar. Mashed + stewed to reduce a bit, then strained the juice overnight in muslin bag. Add a litre of vodka to the strained juice, drink, then wish you'd never bothered :rotfl: cheers :beer:

vixster

hi,

we've just collected loads of chestnuts, for the first time. What is the best way to store them? and apart from roasting them what can we do with them??

thanks

oliveoyl

vixster wrote: »

hi,

we've just collected loads of chestnuts, for the first time. What is the best way to store them? and apart from roasting them what can we do with them??

thanks

I'm jealous. You can just store them in the veg compartment of your fridge... they keep for upto 6 months that way.

Some recipes here.

Tightwadways

quiet_advisor wrote: »

None on the Norfolk coast. I have just been on a two hour bike ride round the usually prolific areas, but zilch. Same with the wild damsons that are normally to be found.

Plenty of blackberries, however, so may research alternatives to sloe vodka!

I can confidently say that Blackberry Vodka is very very lush, as is raspberry vodka...was given a bottle by a relative recently and it's was verrrrry nice hellooo to a fellow Norfolk member...hope my sloe hunt goes a bit better...first year I've looked!

yellowrock

Hi all

I would love to have a go at making my first lot of sloe gin, had shop bought and loved it and heard the home made was even better. I live on the Notts/Derby border and have asked around but no-one here seems to know where there are any bushes. If anyone is from around my area can they point me in the right direction?
thanks

thriftlady_2

newleaf wrote: »

We've had a very poor year for fruit. No plums, damsons, raspberries or decent apples. The cherries and blackcurrants were the only things that did well in our garden this year.

No damsons in Worcestershire this year:( so no damson gin at Christmas. My quince tree has been very poor too, just a handful to the 50+ I had last year. There are enough for quince vodka thank goodness.Crab apples were rubbish too, in fact this is the first year for ages that I haven't done any preserving. I do have blackberries in the freezer so I might use those in place of damsons;)

shezza

Hi, I experienced sloe gin for the first time a couple of months ago and loved it. So I thought that I might give it a go and make it myself, but I can't find any. I live not to far from Newcastle upon Tyne, so does anyone know either
1. Where I can find any growing; or
2. Where I can buy some or if indeed you can actually buy them.
Cheers:beer: (hopefully with sloe gin :rotfl:)

Pink.

Hi shezza,

I think sloes are a bit thin on the ground this year. I managed to find some but not nearly as many as usual. There was a recent thread on sloes that might help so I'll add your post to it to keep the replies together.

Perhaps someone on that thread might be able to give you ideas of where to find them in your area or could you ask if anyone knows where they're to be found on your local freeycycle?

You can buy dried sloes but from what I've read they don't make very good sloe gin. This thread has more info: Cocked up with dried sloes for sloe gin

Pink

Penelope_Penguin

DS and I picked loads of plump soft sloes today I already have the gin in the pantry :beer: