# Huckleberry Jelly/Sloe Trees



## VUnder (Sep 1, 2011)

I mentioned to my mother that I had lots of huckleberrys and she said if I would pick some, she would make me some jelly. Whew! It takes a long time to pick a bucket of huckleberrys. But, I pulled my old truck down in the woods and turned Rush on and went to picking. Had my first jelly this evening, and it is so good. Haven't had that in a while. I have some Sloe trees too, has anybody used those to make anything, I have a lot of them. Kinda remind me of a plum tree. Your thoughts.


----------



## horseman09 (Mar 2, 2010)

VUnder said:


> I mentioned to my mother that I had lots of huckleberrys and she said if I would pick some, she would make me some jelly. Whew! It takes a long time to pick a bucket of huckleberrys. But, I pulled my old truck down in the woods and turned Rush on and went to picking. Had my first jelly this evening, and it is so good. Haven't had that in a while. I have some Sloe trees too, has anybody used those to make anything, I have a lot of them. Kinda remind me of a plum tree. Your thoughts.


VU, I've never heard of a Sloe tree. Learn something every day. This might sound a little stupid, but (it's ok. You can laugh ) do they make Sloe Gin from the fruit of the Sloe Tree? My wife will occassionally have a Sloe Gin Fizz (shudder).


----------



## VUnder (Sep 1, 2011)

That is exactly where sloe gin comes from. I didn't know what the trees were, but I kept them when I cleared land several years ago. They make a lot of fruit. I happened to have my old Papaw up here and he told me they always called them "sloe trees". They are a member of the hawthorne tree family. It looks like they have thorns on the branches, but they are not strong thorns like a regular thorn tree. The bark is black and sorta looks like a plum tree.


----------



## goshengirl (Dec 18, 2010)

So 'sloe' is the same as 'pawpaw'? 

I had a number of pawpaw seedlings here this past year - a gift from a friend, they apparently spread well with suckers. Anyhow, the dreaded fungus/mold epidemic we had this past summer got to them (along with a lot of other saplings). I'm really hoping to get some more saplings next spring, and to learn what to do with the fruit. It has a lot of native history in this area, and there's even a Pawpaw festival here in southern OH.


----------



## whome (Oct 6, 2011)

Mmmmm huckleberries. Yes, they do take forever to pick don't they. I always hated to pay money to buy them, but all I had to do was go pick them and I now know why they are so expensive! They are going for $60.00 a gallon here now.


----------



## VUnder (Sep 1, 2011)

I told my mother that the next time I am going to spread a sheet or something on the ground and beat the bush to get them, but they hang on pretty good. You actually have to pick them,


----------



## ladyhk13 (Nov 5, 2011)

Wow! I guess I made a good decision to add huckleberry seeds to my collection (heirloom) this year! I only planted one plant to see how it would grow since I had never even heard of the thing and it took off like crazy. It didn't give me enough berries to make anything with since they all ripened at different times so I picked them and harvested the seeds, which there are thousands! So next year I will have even more to use! Now I'll just have to find a good jelly recipe!


----------



## VUnder (Sep 1, 2011)

It took a while to pick huckleberries. I have some persimmons now, and people are surprised at how sweet they are. I kinda like the taste, and in a tight situation, they will do for sweets.


----------

