Sloe learner

The rains are turning the world green again after nearly three months of drought and heatwave temperatures. And, in response, the plants are giving up their edible bounty with unusual abundance. It's been a while since I've seen so many crab apples, blackberries, acorns, haws, elderberries, damsons and rowan berries. And they're early this year too - presumably as a response to the drought. The blackthorn is similarly covered in sloes. They're still a bit small but there are lots of them this year.

There's a lot of mythology surrounding blackthorn, also known as the 'Mother of the Woods'. Cailleach, the Celtic goddess of Winter is usually depicted as an old woman in a veil with with a raven on one shoulder and a staff or walking stick made of blackthorn wood. Witches were said to make wands from the wood of the plant and the thorns were used to prick wax images of those that they cursed. It was also claimed that this is one of the trees which crosses the barrier between this world and the realm of the spirits. Much of the plant’s bad reputation is probably due to its long sharp thorns, scratches from which often go septic. 

Although the fruit of the tree is the ancestor of all our cultivated plums, the wild sloe is incredibly bitter. One bite and your mouth immediately dries up as if you've eaten a mouthful of cornflour. However, it's long been held to be a plant with many medicinal qualities. The fruit and leaves contain tannins, organic acids, sugars and vitamin C. The dried fruits were often used to treat bladder, kidney and stomach disorders, while the liquid from the boiled leaves was used as a mouthwash for sore throats, tonsillitis and laryngitis. It was also reputed to be good for circulation, blood strengthening and nutrient absorption. 

It's also a hard, gnarly wood and was commonly used to make walking sticks, handles for tools and even weapons - my Irish paternal grandfather used to display a wonderful blackthorn shillelagh above his fireplace.

Like every keen forager I know the best places to find sloes and I guard the location jealously. There's a lot of blackthorn near where I live but there are certain places where they are very productive. 

You're meant to pick them - for use in things like sloe gin and jams - after they've 'bletted' i.e. the first frosts have split their skins. However, the first frosts are likely to be a few months away yet - we're still enjoying daily temperatures in the twenties (Celsius). And by the time we get to the frosts, the birds - particularly the blackbirds - will have had them all.

So, when they get to decent size I'll gather them in and artificially blet them in my freezer. Or I'll simply put a slice in the skin of each berry before I soak them in the gin. 

I make a sloe gin every year to enjoy as a warm toddy over Christmas. But this year I thought I'd try something new - a damson and sloe jam. 

Watch this space.