THE sound of heavy rain as I wake up is not going to dampen my spirits on the day I head out for November’s foraging expedition.
I’m off to meet Rob Caton at Wallington to look among the hedgerows for some sloe berries to make one of my favourite winter drinks ... sloe gin.
As it happens, by the time I’m up and ready and have packed the car with waterproofs and my gin-making kit, the rain has stopped and the sun is shining, and for a November morning, it’s quite mild.
We meet at the car park at Wallington before heading out along the nearby country lanes in search of a blackthorn hedge laden with berries. By all accounts it’s a good year for sloes, so I am hopeful for a bumper crop. I’m already wondering whether I could make enough sloe gin to give little bottles for gifts at Christmas. Mind you, I may not want to share it!
The hedgerows are packed with berries at this time of year. Hawthorn and rosehips are around in abundance. Rob tells me that hawthorn berries can be used to make a jelly although it’s not the nicest. However, rosehips when made into a syrup, can be quite medicinal. My mum used to make it as it’s apparently good for coughs and colds, and tasty too, I seem to remember.
After a while of looking at hedge level we come across a blackthorn bush, identifiable by its extremely thorny twigs and oval toothed leaves that are wider towards the tip. The problem is, we can’t se any fruit on this bush.
Rob starts to explain that it’s probably because the bush has been chopped drastically by the hedge cutters. In cases like this, the bush will usually send out lots of new shoots packed with berries as a survival technique. Then we look up towards the tree, and lo and behold, there are loads of tiny little purple- blue berries, but they’re too far up to reach. Typical!
This doesn’t deter Rob, however, and no sooner have we spotted them than he’s found a way to pull the branch down to arm’s reach, and I hurry about trying to pick as much of the fruit as I can before he has to let go. We find a few more great spots along the hedgerow and finally have enough to make some gin.
Back in the car park, we unpack things we need to make the sloe gin – a glass jar, a fork, gin, sugar and sloes. After removing the stems and leaves from the pile of sloes, we prick them with a fork and place them in the jar which is already half full of gin and sugar. After adding all the ingredients it just needs a shake and voila, the brewing process begins.
The only thing is that it takes a month or two before the gin is ready to sample, so this time I will have to be patient before trying my foraged food.
Never mind. I’m sure it will be worth the wait.
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