sloes

Sloes are a bit of a wild card, and that’s exactly why picking them yourself is such a fun adventure. These tiny, tart, deep-blue fruits with a whitish bloom grow on the blackthorn, a wild relative of the plum, and they hang on thorny bushes from late September into November. Grab a basket, some sturdy gloves (those thorns are no joke), and a few friends or family members for a proper countryside quest. The best trick? Wait until after the first frost, or cheat by freezing them overnight at home—this reduces their astringency. The real joy is the hunt: wandering through hedgerows, spotting that perfect purple cluster, and gently twisting the ripe fruit off the stem. Leave green or red fruit on the bush, and don’t squeeze the sloes as you pick, as they bruise. Kids love the challenge, and there’s always a friendly competition for who can fill their basket fastest without getting scratched.

Once you’re back home, store them unwashed in the fridge and use them within 3–5 days, or freeze them. They’re famously astringent and not something to eat raw, so they need a little patience and sugar to shine. The pits are not edible: don’t crush or eat them. Here’s how to use them:

Two Cooking Recipes:

Sloe & Apple Crumble
Mix 300g sloes (pricked all over with a fork) with 4 chopped apples, 50g sugar, and a cinnamon stick in a baking dish. For the topping, rub 100g cold butter into 150g flour and 50g sugar until crumbly. Sprinkle on top. Bake at 180°C for 40 minutes until golden and bubbling. The sloes soften into a tangy, jammy layer—perfect with custard or ice cream.
Slow-Roasted Pork Belly with Sloe Sauce
Score the skin of a 1kg pork belly, rub with salt and oil, and roast at 220°C for 30 minutes, then lower to 160°C for 1.5 hours. Meanwhile, simmer 200g sloes with 3 tbsp honey, 100ml apple cider vinegar, and a sprig of rosemary for 20 minutes until the sloes burst and the sauce thickens. Serve the crispy pork drizzled with this sweet-sour sauce—it cuts through the richness beautifully.

Whether you go for crumble or pork, each bite reminds you of that muddy, happy afternoon in the hedgerows. Happy picking!

Tres Jolie

berries, fruit, nuts

gelderland

Très Jolie in Achterveld is a pick-your-own fruit farm specialising in small berries and fruits. The farm grows blackcurrants, redcurrants, whitecurrants, gooseberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, tayberries (a cross between blackberries and raspberries), Japanese wineberries, and jostaberries (a cross between blackcurrants and gooseberries). Later in the season, visitors can also pick apples, pears, quinces, and kiwi berries. The farm occasionally has hazelnuts, rosehips, elderberries, sloes, rowanberries, and plums. The picking season runs from late June to early October, with different fruits ripening at different times. Blackcurrants and gooseberries are usually ready first, followed by redcurrants, whitecurrants, and blueberries in July. Raspberries and blackberries ripen from mid-July, while tayberries and Japanese wineberries appear later in the summer. Apples and pears are typically ready from September, along with quinces and kiwi berries. The farm updates its website and social media with current availability.

Plukbos Paardenspeelwei

fruit, vegetables, berries, nuts

gelderland

Plukbos Paardenspeelwei in Velp is a small public picking garden where children and adults can gather fruit, nuts and berries directly from the plants. The garden was created in 2021 on a corner of the Paardenspeelwei, a nature playground opened in 2012 for local families. The garden grows over 40 edible species, including strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, cherries, apples, pears, plums, hazelnuts, walnuts and quinces. There are also less common fruits such as pawpaws, persimmons (kaki), honeyberries and jostaberries. The plants are arranged in a way that encourages biodiversity and improves the soil, with nitrogen-fixing shrubs like the autumn olive (olijfwilg) mixed in.