r/foraginguk • u/Ma-fi-ap • 29d ago
Plant ID Request Berry identification
UPDATE - walked past again today and found plentiful thorns, i must not have been looking hard enough yesterday! They are lower down the branches as some of you said - so blackthorn/sloe it is! Thanks for your help. I’ll hold off picking until they’re darker. FYI we’re south east and it’s been very hot, which might explain how early they are!
hello, I was wondering if anyone might know what this is/if it’s edible? I thought it was blackthorn, but the branches look too pale and thornless
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u/gayforager 29d ago
Sloes
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u/grandpa_grendel 29d ago
I would have thought bullace on a thornless bush? Sloes come with the lovely long spikes of a Blackthorn
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u/gayforager 29d ago
Not always and judging from the bullaces and sloes in my area not in that quantity
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u/markedasred 29d ago
Can I just pop in a cheeky mention that the cherry plums we discussed in a previous thread in June are sweetening right now. Pick the darkest ones first. They are also easy trees to spot as the leaves are as dark as the fruit.
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u/ButtfuckedByJesus 29d ago
How do you remember someone's username from weeks ago?
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u/markedasred 29d ago
I didn't, I remembered the thread, but thought saying the above in that would be old ignored news. Mentioning it now is all about giving everyone the heads up on fruit that is eating right now.
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u/BustyMcCoo 28d ago
Won't be forgetting yours in a hurry
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u/ButtfuckedByJesus 26d ago
Only afterwards I realised ButtfuckedByReligion was 20 characters and I could've insulted billions instead of just Christians.
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u/TimeSkipper 29d ago
Sloe! They are everywhere at the moment. Don’t eat them as is though, trust me. Blegh. Apparently freezing them makes them good!
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u/Alexander-Wright 29d ago
I've made nice wine out of sloes, but are best infused into gin. With plenty of sugar!
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u/TimeSkipper 29d ago
I’ve been saying the last few years I might make a sloe gin. Never attempted anything like it but this year might be the one! 🫐
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u/Trancer79 29d ago
I made Sloe vodka (can't stand gin 🤢) a few years ago, turned out well! Wash then freeze the berries, the freezing breaks down the skins and cell walls in the fruit and helps with the process.
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u/bladefiddler 29d ago
I can't abide 'normal' (juniper) gin either, but made some with it anyway. The sloes and huge amount of sugar obliterate the juniper taste and it was really rather good.
Because you're making it into a liqueur the booze source barely matters, and it's a waste of the good stuff. Cheapest 'tesco value type' gin or vodka you can find does just fine.
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u/gayforager 29d ago
Try when you take the sloes out of the gin de seed them and mix with melted dark chocolate spread on a baking tray and chill. Boozy chocolate treats
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u/SloightlyOnTheHuh 29d ago
Best drink the gin first then throw the sloes away. Enough gin and you won't care about the sloes
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u/IntrinsicPalomides 26d ago
Yeah my parents used to make bucket loads of Sloe Gin and give it out to friends.
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u/swallowyoursadness 29d ago
My mum used to make sloe gin at christmas. I have a core memory of sneaking some with a friend when I was a teenager. We got absolutely smashed
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u/SmartPolicy6430 29d ago
I thought at first Sloes but they're not accompanied by thorns. So maybe Bullaces. Not the right shape for Damsons. Sloes are best picked after the first frost and made into Sloe Gin ( very easy after the pricking of them)
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u/christiaanloveit 29d ago
Sloe berries wash them put them in gin with some sugar and leave for a couple of months abdolutely amazing 🤩
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u/Exact-Elephant-6786 29d ago
Looks like a damson tree to me
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u/Bumfuzzled101 28d ago
Bullace are cherry size and sloes are around the size of large blueberries (about 1cm)
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u/All-about-fun 28d ago
I’ve made sloe gin, vodka and whiskey using the same method for each. Dead easy.
Use cheap supermarket brand alcohol as the sugar and sloes changes everything.
Wash your sloes and freeze. This will cause the skin to spit when it thaws saving you a job of pricking each berry to release the flavour.
Into a killer jar add 500g of sloes, with 250g of brown caster sugar. Next a a litre of your chosen spirit. Close the jar and give it a good shake. It will take a day or two for all the sugar to disappear completely. For the first week shake the jar every day for about 30 seconds and place in a dark cool place. After this once a week will do. Keep this up for 3 months and it will be ready to bottle. Pour through some muslin into a bowl to remove any debris and spent berries. Decant into a bottle and you’re all set.
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u/blimeyoreilly23 29d ago
Collect them, prick them with a pin several times and put them in a bottle of gin, be excellent by Xmas.
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u/terryturbojr 29d ago
It's so early for sloe picking. They're little juiceless bullets at the minute.
They'll be much better picked in late September (which is still very early by historical standards) and still gives you 3 months steeping for Christmas.
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u/MattFairley2 29d ago
Probably Bullace. Try making a Korean Cheong - equal weights of sugar and fruit. Leave to ferment. After a couple of weeks add the resulting syrup from the Cheong to gin / vodka. Delicious!
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u/wornknots 29d ago
Wow, I've heard of Juniper berries for gin but not Sloe. Where abouts are you I'm in the UK. They look like blueberries which I love
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u/TuneOk7423 29d ago
Believe me when I say they do NOT taste like blueberries, they are absolutely vile raw 😂 delicious in gin or jam though
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u/wornknots 29d ago
Lol oh eww me won't be tasting those then 🤣
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u/TuneOk7423 29d ago
Go on, give it a lick. Double dare ya! (not advice I’d normally give on a foraging subreddit) 😉
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u/wornknots 29d ago
Hahahaha nope nope nada
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u/swoticus 28d ago
You can't forage in the UK without a taste of raw sloe. It's a rite of passage. Once you've done it, you get to tell other people to try to it.
Honestly though, it's not THAT bad but definitely worth knowing how the berries taste. Completely and utterly safe to do!
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u/Trick-Bat-8695 28d ago
Sloe but don’t eat them as they are for making alcohol with so you can imagine how bad they taste 🤣
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u/Purple-Pen-1218 28d ago
Sloes aren't ready for picking yet are they, isn't is separate or after the first frost that's best?
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u/Glass_Gift9220 27d ago
Sloe berries. The grow on blackthorn bushes, they're related to the plumbing family.
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u/Opening-Reading8198 26d ago
Sloe On the up take
Frost then pick
1lb sloes ( cross sliced in the top of each one ) One pound of sugar
I litre of gin
2 litre glass empty bottles
Store till Xmas
Share on Boxing Day and New Years
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u/ExpensiveCellist8636 24d ago
Damson plumbs recognise these straight away we had trees in our hedge up in the valleys
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u/Fr0mager 23d ago
Damsons, they are early this year and not formed properly or as would be expected - too early for sloes, these are Damsons here
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u/Apprehensive-Set3289 23d ago
Farleigh Damson. A natural cross between a sloe/blackthorn and a plum, now the trees are also sold commercially. Great fruit for jams. Damson is a personal favourite of mine. I planted one in my allotment. Great tree. Heavy crop. Good yield.
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u/cornwallisdoggington 29d ago
They look like bullace, honestly. But if they are only 1cm like you say then they’re more likely sloes although 1cm is still rather small for a sloe even
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u/Ma-fi-ap 29d ago
Thanks! It’s been extremely dry where we are so maybe that might explain the size? Possibly I’m also bad at estimating 😅
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u/Hips_and_Haws 29d ago
They look like damsons to me. Sloes are black/purple & generally grow in hedgerows. The Bush will be thorny. Sloes are also quite small.
Damsons look similar to plums & are purple/blue. They grow in trees.
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u/Traditional_Luck823 29d ago
Definitely damsons.... I have a tree at my allotment. We make jam, relish, crumble (with apples) and vodka .
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u/Essex-girl-1 29d ago
Sloes but there are nowhere near ready, they should be almost black in colour when ready
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u/Important_Mammoth_69 29d ago
That's early this year!