john b 38 Posted September 20, 2007 Report Share Posted September 20, 2007 I have never know a year like it. Picked over 5lb today on along a stretch of hedge about 30 yards long and there were still loads left. I have never seen them before in large 'clumps' on the branches in stead of the usual 1s and 2s. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest SJM Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 Ive made my first batch and its in the cupboard under the sink for the recipe I cant wait til its matured enough to drink Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest SJM Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 I was out mooching around today and found another 2 bushes, the sloes on these 2 bushes are double the size of the other one, they are darker purple in colour and softer, whereas the other ones are greener underneath and purple on top and as well as being smaller are harder to the touch, are the smaller ones just needing more time to mature, or am I picking the wrong kind of fecking berries? Its too late now as I have made a batch with the wee harder ones, and come drinking time it will be getting slurped regardless of whether it should be carrying a toxic symbol or not but I have a funny feeling the batch Im going to make later today with the bigger softer ones will taste better? Also, the bigger ones I noticed quite a lot of them have burst open, I just left these ones on the branch, is this due to me leaving it too late and they are over ripe? Happy drinking folks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harrycatcat 31 Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 Well done mate. I cant answer your question cos its my first time. Some of the sloes around here are like all wissned up all wrinckley but the ones I have got about 2.5 lbs seem ok. Just got some Gin from Sainsburys their own for £6.49p could not see any in Lidl and couldnt be arsed to go to Tesco ours is a mad house. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mole catcher 1 Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 the reason you get two differant size berrys is a mix or sun the water thats being held in the soil around the blackthorn bush. the smaller harder berrys will taste just fine and the burst ones are as you say, over ripe. not wanting to shock any of you but how many of you checked each sloe for a small hole? these ones should be binned as its the enterance hole of an insect that lays its eggs inside the sloe. get these in the gin and it will spoil. those of you that have the grubs growing inside your sloes i have one piece of advise............... treat it like having a worm in your tequila Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest SJM Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 ooooh I have just checked my big juicy ones (haha that sounds bad )and a couple of them have holes in them, glad you warned me about that, will chuck em in the bin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mole catcher 1 Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 Call me a perv but i love checking big juicy ones Quote Link to post Share on other sites
anita&paul 0 Posted September 21, 2007 Report Share Posted September 21, 2007 Call me a perv but i love checking big juicy ones god you perv................ nita x Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harrycatcat 31 Posted September 22, 2007 Report Share Posted September 22, 2007 I have just bottled up 3 bottles but where is the best place to keep it ?? Somewhere dark and cold or warm and light ?????? Never made any before. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest SJM Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 Ive put mine in the cupboard under the sink, dark and not too warm, but if anyone has a better suggestion? Is dark and warm better than dark and cold? Or doe it not matter? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OldTrapCollector 376 Posted September 23, 2007 Report Share Posted September 23, 2007 I took my lad out this morning and was amazed to see how many sloes there were and how big they were. We managed to pick 18 1/2 lb of sloes in just an hour and a half. There were still plenty left and I saw a couple of ladies heading towards the prickly corner with their buckets as we left. They are washed, bagged up and in the freezer already, waiting for me to fetch the gin from the supermarket. OTC Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mole catcher 1 Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 18.1/2LB OF SLOES... at 1lb of fruit per 4 liters of gin thats one hell of an amount of grog your going to be making if you need a hand to get through ot , PLEASE send me a pm. they make lovely pies when put in with apples and with that good amount of fruit you could make some family sized pies. sounds like your not only going to have fun picking them buy also reeping the fruits(pardon the pun) of your labours down the road Quote Link to post Share on other sites
OldTrapCollector 376 Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 18.1/2LB OF SLOES... at 1lb of fruit per 4 liters of gin thats one hell of an amount of grog your going to be making Well I couldn't ignore sucha bountiful harvest could I??? OTC Quote Link to post Share on other sites
maty j 6 Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 i was planning on making a bit of ziderr this year got the apples still here but still waiting on the press.....only been waiting about a month now so goes without saying really the apples are starting to shrivel!! anyway just went out to get some sloes insted of the cider now. got a few nice big ones all off 1 tree, most were allready shrivelled but still i had a few. i went to another spot were i noticed a few last year and they were all small, perhaps size of your index finger nail. there was plenty off them and no bigger ones on the tree at all so are they still growing or could i pick them now?? strange the different groth rates from a few fields distance. cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Guest little_lloyd Posted September 25, 2007 Report Share Posted September 25, 2007 I made two nice bottles of the stuff today.....to b followed by lots lots and lots more of it Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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