Sloe berry bush

[Moopmoop]

Has anyone got any experience of these? I was considering buying one as a present for my father in law as I heard he likes sloe gin, are the plants easy to care for and can you eat the berries raw? Has anyone made their own sloe gin, if so any good? I like gin so I'm hoping to snaffle some of these berries to make my own too. Don't you just love buying presents for other people when the gift benefits you too

[Jeanied]

I bought a batch of sloe plants from one of the supermarkets a couple of years ago... I think it was a bundle of 8 from A**i. They will take a few years to get to fruiting stage - they are best used as a rather untidy hedge which has prickles to stop intruders. They like to grow quite wide.

I find it is better to do the 'blossom watch' in spring - in wild hedgerows etc - as the flowers are amongst the earliest to appear - then pick them after the first frost for the best flavour.

[Alison]

I just pick them off hedgerows, there are loads round here and the last couple of years there have been loads of fruit . Sloe gin is incredibly easy to make, just get a jar with a lid (I use a large kilner type), put in a load of sloes (you can use other fruits too), cover with sugar (some people put the same weight as of fruit but I find this far too sweet) then top up with gin. Shake every day for a couple of week then leave until about Christmas time. Filter off and enjoy. Re eating them raw, don't recommend it, they're really sour. Did make some nice syrup with them last year and some sloe and crab apple jam too.

[Moopmoop]

Well I'm pleased that I asked but disappointed too, my in laws garden is immaculate and no way they'd have an unruly bush. I also can't grow one at home as I won't have the room in my smallish garden. I'll have to have a look around here and see if there are any sloe bushes growing wild and make him some sloe gin that way.

[Kirk]

I would have thought that you could easily get a couple of small saplings from the hedgerow quite easily.

As I recall you cannot eat them raw, they are somewhat sour and dry.

They are a somewhat untidy bush, and lots of nice sharp thorns, their other name being Blackthorn

[Alison]

Round here they planted a lot of native bushes etc in the hedges adjacent to new housing estates so you don't have to go too far to see blackthorn, wild rose, hawthorn etc so really easy, not sure if this is nationwide though.

[Moopmoop]

I guess it depends where you live Kirk, around here the only things I've seen are blackberries, there are no other fruit trees/bushes that I'm aware of and I don't drive so I'm limited to bus routes and shank's pony.

[mothhawk]

Many field hedges in Leicestershire are a combination of blackthorn and hawthorn. Blackthorn suckers like crazy once it gets established, sending up wickedly thorny shoots all over the place that can grow a foot in a year.

So unless you can have grass right up to it so you can keep the suckers mown, or you conveniently have livestock grazing it, I would definitely not grow blackthorn in the garden. Its other common name is quickthorn, which may give you an idea of the speed it grows. One bush can make a large thicket in less than 10 years.

[mosstrooper]

I guess it depends where you live Kirk, around here the only things I've seen are blackberries, there are no other fruit trees/bushes that I'm aware of and I don't drive so I'm limited to bus routes and shank's pony.

Have a look around the Queen Elizabeth lake Moopmoop. There's Blackthorn planted all around it.
I did spot a few sloes growing behind the hotel this morning

[Moopmoop]

Thanks for the heads up, might take advantage of that on the last day of my weeks hol from work.

[Kirk]

I am just very used to seeing them in just about every hedgerow, most noticable in spring ewhen they tend to be the first blossom on anything. Dark bush and white blossom stands out when nothing else is doing anything.

[Moopmoop]

I suppose it helps when you know what you're looking for too

[Vince G]

Just planted a blackthorn in the garden - hoping it will quickly cover an unsightly fence.

[Bal]

When I make sloe gin I usually put about a tablespoon of sugar in the bottle add enough berries to fill about a third and then top up with the cheapest gin you can buy I also add extra flavouring to some such as some slivers of lemon rind or a stick of cinnamon or some cloves. It tastes great with champagne as a sort of Kir royal. I was told you should prick the berries to help release the flavour, but I just freeze them first which splits them, so much easier.