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Fresh Sloes..hmmmmmmm!

I Got a text message from my wife yesterday (she doesn't work Mondays, I do), saying she'd found Blackthorn bushes finally! She'd been looking for years with thought to make sloe gin, and never found any. People who knew of their whereabouts were keeping the 'secret'. Anyhow, she found that she'd actually walked past them frequently and not noticed.

I came home, and she'd picked about 2lbs, said there were many more, but too high up. We went back again together last night, and with the help of me and my long arms, we picked another 3 lbs before it went dark on us and the sloes magically became invisible. Kath is using about a lb for some sloe gin, and I'm using the remainder (about 4 lb) for some sloe wine.

I'm becoming happier and happier as the days go by to be living where I am - it's fantastic!

Fresh sloe wine here I come!

',;~}~

Shaun aRe, gloating a little, heheheheh........!

Reply to
Shaun Rimmer
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In message , Shaun Rimmer writes

Brings back happy memories. My Dad was an avid maker of sloe wine, and I'd always go collecting the fruit for him. I've got 2 or 3 favourite places, that I never let anyone else know about - I think it's a common trait! In a good year the sloes are as fat as anything, and cover the bushes. Autumn 1996, I picked 90 lbs in one day (fell off a ladder in the process; d*mn, that hurt), and he made the lot into wine right away.

Well, he died in 99, and by last autumn I was getting a bit thirsty, if you follow, so I made a batch, in a haphazard way, with some help from this ng. And by Jove it was good...

So far this year, I've got a gallon just gone in to secondary last night, 3 litres of sloe gin, and a whole load in the freezer softening up for when I've got time to do something with them; hope there's still some left on the bushes too... Which begs a question; the tradition is not to gather them until the first frost - does anyone actually take much notice of that? Usually round here (S. coast of England) they've shrivelled up, been eaten by birds, or been picked, long before that.

Good luck with yours!

cheers, robin

Reply to
Robin Somes

90 lbs? More than worth the pain then!

I've seen this too.

Plain ignored it ',;~}~

Yup, that's what I thought, so I'm gonna bung 'em in the freezer and have done with it, heheheh.......

Thanks,

Shaun aRe

Reply to
Shaun Rimmer

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