Autumn's no time to be sloe on the uptake

John Wright reveals that the fruit of the spiky blackthorn is only good for a single recipe, but it’s a one-hit wonder that foragers rate

- John Wright

The sloe season is upon us. Actually, it has been upon us for a few weeks, with reasonably ripe fruit around since late August. However, it is late September through to early November when much of the rural — and some of the more fortunate urban — population venture forth with baskets and sticking plasters.

Sloes are, of course, the fruit of the blackthorn. The blackthorn is a small tree that adorns hedgerows, waste ground and wood edges, which occasionally forms small spinneys if one turns one’s back.

As a hedgerow tree, it is a visual delight, especially in the winter with its black bark and in early spring with its dazzling white blossom. A delight it may be, but it is seldom planted intentionally because of its boorish habit of producing vast numbers of suckers. If you want to lay a hedge that contains blackthorn, your first job is to hack your way through the forest of young plants that have staked a claim on either side.

Thorny issue

The Latin for the blackthorn, Prunus spinosa (spiny plum), will come as no surprise, for its spines are notorious. They were once considered to be poisonous, but the inflammation that often follows a wound is the result of a bacterial infection introduced via a thin, flaky layer of bark on the spines. Leather gardening gloves, for one hand at least, are a must.