The dry spell has broken.
I never thought I’d be so happy to see rain in August.
8 Likes
Spoiled my cricket match yesterday!
We need lots more. The canal outside our home has been closed since 22nd May due to the drought. It looks very sad, weed choked and very low.
Bruce
3 Likes
Same here. Water table has disappeared. Ancient trees are dying. Grass/ hay fields are likely to be overwhelmed by weed growth. All very sad but if we get some good rainfall now and a cold winter to kill off the weed growth, next year may return to a more normal growth cycle. Meanwhile our own garden shrubs and hedging may need to be hard cut back in October to allow new growth in the spring,
1 Like
Flipside appears to be a very abundant autumn. We have had lots of fruit from the garden and hedgerows and the sloes are the size of plums. Shame we don’t like sloe gin.
Bruce
1 Like
I love sloe gin and have two beautiful deep red bottles of it maturing in my kitchen cupboards already.
We have a tree load of fruit……I foresee a couple of litres of sloe gin forthcoming1
1 Like
Everyone has their own recipe, of course, but some things I’ve learned over the years that particularly suit my palate:
- Prick each sloe all over with a needle (tradition dictates one should use a thorn taken from the same bush as the sloes) to make sure the colour and flavour come out quicker and better
- I find most other peoples’ recipes far too sweet - Chateau Benylin, as I sometimes call it - so I only put in 100g or less of sugar per 70cl of gin. If it ends up insufficiently medicinal for your liking, you can always put more in later.
- I’ve seen suggestions of exactly which gins are supposedly best for sloe gin, and they were all rather expensive premium ones. Nonsense. Go supermarket, go cheap; it makes not a ha’p’orth of difference, except to your wallet.
Mark
4 Likes
That’s pretty much how I do it. 
(Apart from the thorn!)
1 Like
I agree about the sugar quantities, some are far too sweet. Cheap gin is fine too.
I use a sharp knife to put a slice in each sloe, as I find it far quicker than stabbing. I have a friend who just smashes them to burst the skins.
Sloes aren’t ripe yet here, but I’ve got some damson gin on the go.
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.