Global warming sucks !

[Ian McDonald]

Just spent a few hours foraging for blackberries & sloes.
Net result 21/2 lbs blackberries pucked at the rate of single berries per bush. (last year 15lbs) !
sloes.....not even a single berry.
Will put the blackberries with a liter of purple grape juice, and see what it produces.

Ian McDonald,
heartbroken.

[robwrx]

Last year the hedgerow near my house was full of sloes, this year there are virtually none. Global warming or just a crap season?

[Emeraldclaire]

Same here. I did eventually find enough blackberries to make 2 gallons of port and to add to a hedgerow wine (a rather depleted hedgerow...). Apple juice added to blackberri is nice. I usually get my sloes from a huge hedge on private land (I.e.no ne else picks from it) but there was not a single sloe on the hedge this year despite all the blossom on it in spring. I did finally find some elsewhere, but it was hard going.

[Duffbeer]

Last year the hedgerow near my house was full of sloes, this year there are virtually none. Global warming or just a crap season?

Just a crap season, we had some warm weather early in the year which brought on an early blossom, we were then hit with two to three days of hard frost which killed off the blossom before it could be pollonated.

[Leon]

I did ok, 20k of elderberries and nearly 10 of blackberries, but it took a lot of effort, searching; can't wait to work through the recipies in Bill Smith's Award Winning Wines though. Just hoping I'm not too late for the sloes, there were a few on bushes last time I checked. I have to do it on the sly though, as I've been banned from foraging because SWMBO can't get the shopping in the chest freezer for nature.

[RTPFUN]

have to agree the crop of fruit this year has been the worst ever. Resorted to buying a kilo of dried elderberries to add to my poor pickings. So it's elderberry half fresh and half dried and blackberry and dried elderberry this year. The calculations of combining some fresh and some dried hurt my head!!! As for the sloes the birds have knobbled them here in Manchester. The elderberry at racking did taste rather nice.

[goldseal]

Grapes on my vines (all 8 of them) have got to 16 - 17 brix, leaves are falling, weather is getting colder.

I think it's time to pick them, crush them (about 5 minutes' work ) and freeze them for addition to something else at some point.