Autumn Fruits
Early last Sunday morning I was on the way out to purchase bacon and eggs for a much needed hearty breakfast; passing the field at the end of the lane I pulled up sharply, blinked and yes sure enough a sight I'ver never encountered before - still damp from birth and very wobbly on long gangly legs - a newborn foal! Absolutely beautiful! Getting back into the car I noticed the hedgerow - bushes laden with ripening sloes.
Feeling replenished from breakfast I rumaged around for the jam making pot, funnel, muslim and hunted high and low for a good old fashioned recipe for Sloe Gin!
Over the next few weeks the Aga will be working overtime! An abundance of blackberries in Newbarn Farm's hedges and plenty of apples down by the fishing lakes for Blackberry & Apple Jam; apples mixed with hawthorns for Hawthorn Jelly - a lovely accompaniment to cold meats or game dishes! I even may be spurred on to go as far as harvesting the Rosehips - not for itching powder - no! But for an old fashioned cold remedy or a refreshing drink if diluted with water - Rosehip Syrup.
But my favourite autumn collection from the farm has to the sloe berry, mixed with sugar and gin and allowed to ferment slowly will become the glorious bittersweet Sloe Gin! And just as the young foal at the end of our lane enters its second year we will be able to sample the sweet taste of one of Newbarn Farm's best!
All of our autumn fruits once bottled will be available to purchase for all our holiday guests.
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