Bountiful Black Thorn promises bumper crop of sloes

I’ve noticed a particularly lavish display of creamy-white blossom on the Black Thorn trees and bushes lining nearby hedgerows.

Its delicate beauty is a sight to behold and a potent sign of spring , but the abundance of blossom also promises a bumper crop of sloes - the dark, blue-black berries used to make Sloe Gin – this autumn. Sloes are the fruit of the Black Thorn, or Prunus Spinosa to give it its correct name.

In recent years, sloes have been thin on the ground as the late frosts seemed to strike at just the wrong time, damaging the blossom buds and preventing the berries from forming properly. This year, a harsh winter followed by an unseasonably warm April seems to have created just the right conditions and I look forward to rich pickings in the autumn.