While this year has been exceptionally dry and has resulted in a reduced yield for the hay, what we have seen is that there has been a bumper crop from our various fruit trees, particularly with the apples and pears.

As mentioned on previous posts the Trees and the hedges are also full of their harvest, while I’ve mentioned Acorns we also have a lot of Sloe berries, the most that I’ve seen for quite a few years.

There has also been a drop in temperature and we have had a mild frost and traditionally the guide has been that you should wait to pick the sloes until there has been a frost (some folk induce a frost by putting the sloes in the freezer for a day or two!).

Sloes are great for making Sloe Gin, but are incredibly bitter/ sour on their own so they are not particularly a pleasant fruit for eating. Making Sloe Gin is very easy but just to be helpful I’ve added a link to a recipe.

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/sloe-gin

If you haven’t tried it before give it a bash!