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I am so excited we finally have some sloes this year,not from my pesky trees but my mum's have finally got a good crop on them after 4 years of nothing,so is there hope for my trees as for 3 years not a berry between them and there are at least 10 of them as they make up our border with the road any ideas how I can rejuvenate them,we have cut them back as they are quite old?

S'funny you should mention a lack of sloes - I've had exactly the same trouble. Like you, we've a whole hedge of blackthorn bushes and usually they are laden with sloes. BUT last year and this are a disaster and I'm not sure why this should be

Last year we none at all. I had to go 'scrumping' when we were in England last November to get a bagful for the old gin. This year we have about enough (from a hedge about 100 feet long) to make maybe two bottles. I can't fathom this one out at all - except to put it down to weather conditions because we have far fewer apples than usual and we only got about a dozen plums from three trees as well.

On the up side, we do have a mega crop of blackberries, not that I really want them in the garden but they'll do just fine for blackberry vodka to supplement the meagre supplies of sloe gin this winter.

Well that is odd because we have had loads of plums and always thought if you have lots of plums you got lots of sloes as they are similar fruits but maybe not!!We have had lots of apples too and loads of wild plums on our other border with the fields.The plot thickens.....

i went out today and got a great haul of sloes its the best year for them ive ever seen here and the brambles,apples and cobnuts dont look to bad either.
randomly ive (so-far) picked a dozen figs off the tree in the garden whereas its only ever given 2 at the most before now!!

heres to free fruit

Well Jampot,will there be as much free fruit in Newcastle??

i hope so

Last year was rubbish for sloes, I guess it was the hard Feb we had.
BUT this year is amazing the branches are groaning with fruit, I keep thinking about how you ar supposed to wait for the first frost, but they are just aching to be picked- is there a ripeness test?

Peggy Sue wrote: is there a ripeness test?

Yes, pop a whole one in your mouth and have a munch......

Too long in the tooth to fall for that one MMM

I was a bit worried posting that in case someone new to sloes might just try it - so I put loads of smilies there in the hope that they would realise it wasn't a serious posting.

Got caught out by that when I was about 12.... by my friend who was about 13!

The only good sloe is a gin soaked sloe ...

even better if it is gin-soaked and then wrapped in chocolate

We have had massive crops in Wales, the best I have ever seen, we have even been getting at least a pound of sloes from trees that are only 3 foot tall, there are literally thousands of them. We seem to have a lot of wild cherry trees here too, ive managed to put on 5 gallons of just cherry wine they are everywhere, if anyone local wants to know the location Im in Pontypridd

Piles of sloes here in Berkshire! I have 2 gallons of sloe vodka setting already. Had to give away a few pounds because I have limited storage space.

Definately not complaining though. I struggled to find many last year, hours of hunting yielded very little. This year, 2 hours of hunting = 3 plastic bags of sloes!