Monday 5 November 2012

Picking Sloes and Blackberries

We spent a chilly and slightly damp weekend in Ireland, just before Halloween,  but the weather did not prevent me from picking sloes and this week I plan to make some Sloe Gin!

I love  Autumn, the preparation for the cold of winter, making delicious supplies which will be here  for  both  family, and  as seasonal gifts for friends.

This week, as well as sloe gin, I plan to bake my Christmas cake, prepare some mincemeat and make various scrumptious chutneys.

Sloes are mini plums, which grow wild,
be careful when picking as the trees are very thorny!

Some times they can be tricky to pick out
well hidden behind the bare branches.

It's worth the hard work though, there is nothing
as wonderful as warming glass of sloe gin
after a long winter's walk.

The crop was sparse this year,
but I hope I have enough for three to four bottles.

Amazingly the blackberries were still around,
my sister in law made a scrumptious blackberry
and apple crumble.

And it was very wet...

So lots and lots...

of mushrooms

Sadly I didn't have an identification book with me
so left them well alone.

It was wonderful to come into the house
 out of the chill and damp
and sit by the fire

Or the range!

We were joined by some wonderful
Halloween characters


And had a cheerful, fun

 Halloween evening.

4 comments:

  1. I haven't seen any this year. I wonder if it's too late to take the E-bay route!

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  2. I love the walks combined with picking fruit, herbs or flowers! I love coming back home with treasures in my hands!

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  3. Very few berries of any kind up here, only a handful of blackberries, so we left them for the birds. Enjoy your gin!

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  4. Mary, it maybe worth a go, if I can't find any in Surrey next Autumn I'm going to do the same next year as we're going to Ireland in the June 1/2 term rather then October!
    Rose, it is rewarding gathering nature's bounty.
    Jill, what a shame, but as Mary says there's always E-Bay, the Dorset sloes I bought last year made pretty good gin!

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