Hi Katrine, and warm welcome to the forum.
I suppose the best time to pick them can depend on the weather, but normally September onwards.
Do they look ripe to you?
Those sort of fruits - plums, mirabelles, damsons, etc will come off easily if they're ready, but if difficult to pick then not yet is probably the answer!
Sloes are best picked after the first frosts, they are sweeter then and the flavour will be better.
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
We picked ours last year during the first weekend of September - we picked them in Licolnshire and they were lovely. They were in a very sunny spot though.
We have loads around us and I am keeping my eye on them. Last year I was going to wait until after the first frost (as I had read that they are better then) but they were long dead by the time the frost came. Most of them had fallen off the tree and rotted so I am not risking it by waiting until the frosts this year. I keep giving them a little tug every time I walk past but they aren't ready yet.
Are you sure they were sloes? Sloes are very blue, hard and sour as hell- lovely is not the word for the taste of a sloe!
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
And Damsons are on trees, sloes on bushes. Damsons are gorgeous.
Kateuk makes things at http://www.etsy.com/shop/finkstuff and sometimes she does this too http://www54paintings.blogspot.com/ and also this http://finkstuff.weebly.com/
Hi Katrine - what a lovely user name - Blueline-cat
I read your profile and delighted to see that you are getting "stuck in" early
I must do a hunt for sloes around here at the weekend. My first reaction is that it seems a bit early for harvesting them. The idea of waiting for the first frost is a bit outdated because the weather patterns are so variable nowadays and somebody suggested that you can achieve the same effect by leaving them in the freezer overnight. But my memory is of harvesting sloes in October. Must double check with Fiona.
Never knowingly underfed
Last year I found two wild damson trees in hedgerow at the back of us - secret location! Huge amount of fruit and no-one wanted it . . . except me! I've still got five pounds in the freezer. Had to pick from the roofrack of my 4x4 though - couldn't get near on a ladder. now watching them jealously in case . . .
What's wrong with the politics of envy, anyway?
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