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Isn’t it too early for sloes? I didn’t think they should be picked until after the first frost, or maybe uts been cold down your way.
Isn’t it too early for sloes? I didn’t think they should be picked until after the first frost, or maybe uts been cold down your way.
Isn’t it too early for sloes? I didn’t think they should be picked until after the first frost, or maybe uts been cold down your way.
Thanks Janet, I knew I’d heard it somewhere.Are you thinking of sprouts?
Traditionally, sloes were picked after the first frost but you can pick them early and put them in the freezer for a while to replicate the frosts.
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/blog/2017/10/when-to-pick-sloes/
Are you thinking of sprouts?
Everyone should be thinking of sprouts now, its time to get them boiling for christmas.
You should just save the time, and put them straight in the bin
Hmm, I wonder if there's any blackthorn trees near us? Goes off to google sloe gin recipes.....
Hmm, I wonder if there's any blackthorn trees near us? Goes off to google sloe gin recipes.....
It's so easy The usual recipe is one pound of sloes per litre of gin, and then half the amount of sugar. So you'd add one pound of sugar, two pounds of sloes, and two litres of gin.
To make it easier, a lot of people roughly use slightly more sloes for a metric recipe, i.e two litres of gin, one kilo of sloes, and 500g sugar. It's easier to remember then, as it's just half the amount of sloes as gin, and half the amount of sugar as sloes. This is what I did.
I wasn't sure what the volume of all the sloes and gin would be when mixed, but a recipe using 3 litres of gin takes up almost spot on 4.5 litres, which is handy if you have 4.5 litre demijohns
Did you have a good Christmas? I can't remember! If you can find some more blackberries then you'll have to try an apple and blackberry pie, it's very nice; 50/50 blackberry and apple mix.Our stash of berries is slowly growing! We went sloe picking at the weekend and found some more blackberries, so we've almost got enough to make 8 jars of jam and a gallon of blackberry wine. That mixed with the six litres of sloe gin I have steeping at the moment should make for a very merry Christmas this year
Traditionally, sloes were picked after the first frost (a bit like sprouts), but with the warm weather they'll probably be ready before, and long gone by, the first frost this winter, plus frosts seem to be getting later in the year too. Maybe an idea to put them on a tray in the freezer for an hour to do the same job then let them warm back up again before doing the gin thing? If you're making a couple of batches you could always try this with one batch and let us know if it works and there's any difference?Brilliant, thanks Carl. Just need to find some sloes now!
Brilliant, thanks Carl. Just need to find some sloes now!
You should just save the time, and put them straight in the bin
Did you have a good Christmas? I can't remember! If you can find some more blackberries then you'll have to try an apple and blackberry pie, it's very nice; 50/50 blackberry and apple mix.
I'm getting ready for the damson harvest round at Mum's house, a real treat as I love damson crumble. A traditional Cheshire fruit too, but you don't seem to see as many damson trees around these days, and those that are are usually very old now.
There are bound to be sloes near you, try a few footpaths? I've found that trees vary considerably in the quality/quantity of fruit; some have very small berries, just ignore them. You should find some with loads of nice fat sloes. And don't forget the other container for blackberries!
I could not fail to disagree with you less....
The quadruple negative, masterly sir, masterly! Perhaps you agree?I could not fail to disagree with you less....
Wait...what?... I am no clearer on your stance on brussel sprouts
The quadruple negative, masterly sir, masterly! Perhaps you agree?
Never could get into growing up .
am now plagued with bottom end rot .
Sloe gin - yum. If you don't have large containers handy then you could do it the way I do: ordinary wine bottle approx 3/4 to 4/5 full of washed, pricked sloes, 4oz sugar and then fill to just below the brim with gin. Turn daily for the first 4 weeks, then leave to settle 6 weeks. Extract the liqueuer from the sloes through a strainer & re-bottle & allow more debris to settle out for a couple of months, re-rack & strain and then put away until at least 6 months & prefably a year old before enjoying.
The red jar is fab. The light coming through it is lovely.
I'll be picking some tomorrow, maybe next week (off work!!) so will be hoping to do better than my epic fail (actually just a non-placed entry) in our village show for my Blackcurrant Liqueuer. "Too sweet" was a common critique amongst those not doing so well.
a nice sweet blackberry liqueur sounds delicious
Possibly you all know (though not clear from the comments), but to get the best yield one steeps the fruit with just the gin and then decants the gin and add the sugar to the fruit and leave it to extract the water and alcohol from the fruit and dissolve in it. Then decant into the gin.It's so easy The usual recipe is one pound of sloes per litre of gin, and then half the amount of sugar. So you'd add one pound of sugar, two pounds of sloes, and two litres of gin.
To make it easier, a lot of people roughly use slightly more sloes for a metric recipe, i.e two litres of gin, one kilo of sloes, and 500g sugar. It's easier to remember then, as it's just half the amount of sloes as gin, and half the amount of sugar as sloes. This is what I did.
I wasn't sure what the volume of all the sloes and gin would be when mixed, but a recipe using 3 litres of gin takes up almost spot on 4.5 litres, which is handy if you have 4.5 litre demijohns
I’m not sure if fully green tomatoes will ripen (think not), but if they have started to change colour they will ripen if kept at 68-77 deg F even without the bananas etc — this happens without sunlight but I’m not sure if darkness is better. I did this last year in a warm dark room so I know it works.Well thankfully the weather down here is better than Scotland as I have trusses of green tomatoes....anyway took some off and apparently if you mix them with apples or bananas it ripens them and this seems to work. The gas\chemical emitted from things like apples and bananas is the same as commercial growers use to ripen their green tomatoes which is Ethylene.
I’m not sure if fully green tomatoes will ripen (think not), but if they have started to change colour they will ripen if kept at 68-77 deg F even without the bananas etc — this happens without sunlight but I’m not sure if darkness is better. I did this last year in a warm dark room so I know it works.
Fried green tomatoes are a thing, particularly in USA, though here they are/or were mostly used for chutney, for which they are great. There was someone on the tv (Gardeners World?) last week advocating the juice as a substitute for verjuice.Apparently some people cook green tomatoes and like the sour acidic taste...
Fried green tomatoes are a thing, particularly in USA, though here they are/or were mostly used for chutney, for which they are great. There was someone on the tv (Gardeners World?) last week advocating the juice as a substitute for verjuice.
@Carl Hall this is a great thread! Brilliant idea and some cracking pics.
Can't believe I hadn't spotted it until now.
And with veggies in particular if you include a shot of the label with time of sowing/planting it’s a useful indicator for what to do next year...and it encourages you to use your camera taking shots of your veggies and of course flowers etc
I've got record shots of front and back garden over 30 years and it's interesting (well for the family) on how it's changed.
And with veggies in particular if you include a shot of the label with time of sowing/planting it’s a useful indicator for what to do next year.