Emily Hartley
An Autumn Worth Waiting For
There is a moment in the British countryside, somewhere between the last swallows leaving and the first real frosts arriving, when the hedgerows become a pantry. The leaves are thinning, the blackberries have gone over, and what remains are the fruits that ask a little more of you: sloes, blue-black and dusted like old pewter, and rosehips glowing red against bare thorn. Both are worth the walk, and both reward a bit of patience.
The trick with sloes is timing. Pick them too early and you will be chewing on something that dries your mouth out for a full ten minutes. Wait for the first proper frosts, which in most of Britain means late October through November, and the fruit softens, the skins split slightly and the astringency eases. That is the signal you are looking for.
Finding and Picking Sloes
Sloes grow on blackthorn, Prunus spinosa, that dense, dark, famously unfriendly shrub that lines field boundaries and old lanes. A blackthorn in fruit is easy to spot in autumn: it carries small round fruits, roughly the size of a large pea, with a deep blue-black colour and a faint grey bloom you can rub off with a thumb. The twigs end in sharp black spines, so leather gloves are not optional.
Where to look:
- Established hedgerows on the edge of fields and along bridleways
- Scrubby, unmanaged corners where blackthorn has been left to spread
- Old railway cuttings and canal banks, often thick with it
- Anywhere with plenty of blossom in April, since blackthorn flowers before its leaves
Pick only from bushes carrying far more fruit than you need, and never strip a branch clean. Sloes will not ripen off the bush, so do not bother with hard, green ones, though if the birds have beaten you to the frosted fruit, don't despair: pick slightly under-ripe and freeze them overnight at home and you will get much the same softening effect.
The Case for Rosehips
Rosehips are the other great autumn stand-by, and they are easier to find than most people think. They are the fruits of our wild roses, most commonly the dog rose, and you will spot them as bright scarlet, oval or slightly bottle-shaped berries on arching, thorny stems in hedges, woodland edges and coastal scrub. They stay on the bush long after the leaves drop, often well into December, and they are one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C in the British larder.
There are two things worth knowing before you fill a bag. First, rosehips are full of fine hairs around the seeds, and those hairs are a well-known irritant, so handle them gently and never rub your eyes. Second, hips soften and sweeten after a frost just as sloes do, so a cold snap is your cue.
Smell one before you pick. A good, ripe hip has a faintly floral, slightly apple-like scent. Reject any that are shrivelled, blackened or holed, as those have usually been visited by larvae.
Leave Plenty Behind
This is the part that matters most, and it is worth saying plainly: the hedgerow is not yours alone. Sloes and hips are winter larder for redwings, fieldfares, blackbirds, song thrushes, waxwings and small mammals. On a hard January, a bush that has been stripped clean is a genuine loss.
A sensible rule is to take no more than a third of the fruit from any one bush, and to leave entire bushes untouched if you pass a stretch where birds are already working through them. Hips are especially valuable because they hang on through the coldest weeks, so leave the lion's share. If you are gathering on a footpath, you may pick fruit and flowers for personal use under long-standing common law, but you must not take from private land without permission, and never dig up plants.
Also avoid busy roadside verges. Spray drift and exhaust residue are not things you want in your syrup, however good the crop looks from the car.
Rosehip Syrup and Sloe Gin
For rosehip syrup, roughly 1kg of hips will make about a litre of finished syrup. Rinse them, then simmer gently in 1.5 litres of water for around fifteen minutes until they split. Strain through muslin or a jelly bag, ideally twice, and do not squeeze the pulp hard or you will push the hairs through. Measure the strained liquid, return it to the pan with 500g of sugar for every 500ml of liquid, and heat just until the sugar dissolves. Bottle in sterilised jars and keep it in the fridge. A spoonful stirred into hot water is a decent tonic on a bleak morning.
For sloe gin, use about 500g of sloes to 250g of sugar and a litre of gin. Prick or freeze the sloes, tip them into a large jar with the sugar and gin, seal and shake. Turn the jar daily for a fortnight, then leave it somewhere cool for at least three months, shaking occasionally. Strain and bottle. It improves for a year or two, if you can wait that long.
A Few Practical Notes
- Wear gloves, trousers and a long-sleeved top; blackthorn and brambles both bite.
- Take a basket or cloth bag rather than plastic, which sweats and bruises fruit.
- Go out after a dry spell, as wet fruit can turn mouldy in the jar.
- Freeze sloes and hips overnight if the frosts have not arrived yet.
- Tell someone where you are going if you are heading into quiet country lanes.
Get it right and an hour on a cold hedgerow in November gives you a winter's worth of syrup and a bottle of something worth sharing at Christmas. Get it wrong, and you'll have learned the lesson every forager learns: the countryside provides generously, but only if you leave it something to work with next year.
