I spent an hour or so this afternoon exploring the hedgerows and collecting sloes. It’s a job I’ve put off for a couple of weeks waiting for the rain to stop and the days to turn colder. It seems the amount of rain we’ve had has caused many to split and start to rot, but there were still plenty left and I managed to collect three or four kilos before I’d had enough of the cold. My forearms are also covered in scratches now. Blackthorn is really quite a brutal plant to tangle with.
Anyhow, they’re off to the freezer for a while to save me having to pierce the skins before I use them to make sloe gin and vodka. I might also keep some back to make sloe cordial.
When I returned to the kitchen I found that I wasn’t the only one labouring with the autumn harvest. A very appealing selection of bottled pears had appeared on the worktop. I shall look forward to trying them…
