Pick sloes

9th October 2021

The fruits of Prunus spinosa, the blackthorn which makes such an effective stockproof hedge, are ripening to blue-black now in hedgerows and if you can pick them from a site that isn't along a busy road you could use them to make a traditional Sloe Gin, or even try something different with Sloe Vodka. It takes two months minimum to infuse the gin with the flavour, so you need to start now for Christmas. Jamie Oliver suggests freezing sloes briefly to break the skins to save the tedious process of pricking them over (https://www.jamieoliver.com/features/sloe-gin-recipe/).