Grow Your Own Magazine

Are there any generous grapes out there in East London willing to share their secret location of wild sloes with me?
We have found a yummy 'wild' damson tree near our local town hall but have had no luck sourcing sloes. Help please.
Many thanks.

Sorry can't help with that but am really interested to know what a sloe looks like if anybody has a link to a photo.

Also could anybody give me the sloe gin recipe?

Good luck with your hunt for London Sloes.

Judy

Judy, check out this web site. http://www.liqueurweb.com/sloe.htm
Highly recommended with excellent links to other sloe sites.
Best of luck (hic)

Sad or what answering my own query!
We found several sloe bushes near the damson; just too ill informed to recognise the wretched things. However, all is well and we now have a couple of quarts of potential sloe gin being lovingly cared for. Should be a smashing christmas, what with the damson gin, elderberry brandy, blackberry vodka.......hic

On a walking holiday in North Norfolk (near Hunstanton, not telling you exactly where) we came across a huge amount of sloes...about fifty bushes full to bursting. But, I didn't know when they are ready/ripe, so we didn't pick any. OH tasted one, and spat it out v.quickly...anyone tell me when they are ready to pick for sloe gin? Many thanks.

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~ What do I think of Western civilisation? I think it would be a very good idea ~ Gandhi

Not sure about those further south, but the ones in our hedgerows are not ready for at least another month and in any case they are far better after frost when used for Sloe Gin. However, if they are ripe (soft to the squeeze, rather than hard) then one can simulate the frost by freezing them for a week or so, then defrosting and adding to the gin. No idea if this has any effect on the taste as I am allergic to alcohol, but my daughter says it works!

Down where I live there are hundreds of bushes, on a mainline trainline to london too. I have a feeling we should be going that later today if we get the chance.

You normally pick after the first frost but they look like being ready early this year. They will never taste nice Two Sheds! They are very astringent. Pick when they start to feel slightly soft. You can very easily spot sloes in the spring. They flower (white flowers looking a bit like may blossom) on bare wood. Blackthorn is their other name and they are spiky and black but with lovely white frothy flowers - the leaves follow later. Go out for a walk, take a map and mark the spot! That's how we used to do it.

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

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Updated November 30th - Mr Stinky's Excellent Adventure (and a Christmas Cake)

I've just picked ,pricked ( wellsliced into woth a knife) & addedtogin some sloes today.
Hadn't expected them to be ripeyet,specially after the dredful sumer we've had, but was wandering round the hedge & saw them all fat & covered in blom. Thy were ripe to the touch too.
Anyone else found ripe sloes yet? will try 7 do a comparison gin withsome more picked in another month or so....assuming they haven't all gone to the birds or dropped off by then.

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Jane

We made sloe Rakia with the similar process last year. To ensure a plentiful supply I have picked a few to make a hedge.

Phreddy
Cherry Rakia is a similar brew!