These are sloes, right?

[TheBigBallOfOil]

Please let them be!!

[RatherBeRiding]

Look like it. Is the bush/tree very thorny?

[RatherBeRiding]

And they won't be ripe yet. Best left till October. The old advice for picking sloes for sloe gin was to wait till first frost.

[sandycloud]

Could be. It's early for sloes though. My dad says don't pick before the first frost. I stuck them in the freezer instead.

[TheBigBallOfOil]

A bit thorny. They wouldn’t be desperately hard to pick. If not sloes whatmight they be? They look too small for damsons

[TheBigBallOfOil]

Ps I’m in south east about 10 miles from south coast so maybe not that early?

[MadisonAvenue]

I've noticed some berries like that on my dog walk and wondered what they were. I'm off out with him again in a minute so will check to see if the bush is thorny.

[RatherBeRiding]

Pretty sure they are sloes if the branches are thorny. The leaves do look like blackthorn and this is sloe season - although way too early to pick them. My horses' field is surrounded by blackthorn hedges which are full of sloes.

[TheBigBallOfOil]

Is it indeed? And where might that be?

[TheFlis12345]

Yes they are sloes. They were very early last year as well, I saw some in June!

[TheBigBallOfOil]

Thank you. I just want to be sure before I stick em in some gin. Mass poisoning when I pour it might ruin the Xmas atmos somewhat

[TheStakeIsNotThePower]

Yes they are. The old saying to wait until after frost was so the skin wasn't intact, if you prick them they will make lovely gin or chuck them in the freezer for a few days.

[TheBigBallOfOil]

Right I’m back out there after lunch.
Thanks all

[RatherBeRiding]

You might want to let them ripen for another couple of months though - they might look ripe but they won't be. I've only ever made sloe gin with late berries (November). I'm not sure if using unripe berries actually makes any difference though.

And my fields are in North Yorkshire - location undisclosed!