Preserving Hedgerow Berries in Jams and Cordials

Forage the Hedgerow with a Light Hand

From late summer through the first hard frosts, the lanes around moorland and upland farms turn into a larder. Brambles scramble through granite hedges, elder bushes lean over gateways, and blackthorn thickets in the wetter corners hang heavy with sloes. It is one of the quiet pleasures of countryside living — but a hedgerow that is stripped bare in a single afternoon is a hedgerow that has been robbed.

Pick from waist height to shoulder height on heavily used lanes, where traffic and dogs are the main reason to avoid low fruit. Leave the topmost berries for the birds, and take no more than a third from any one bush. Never pick from a verge you know has been sprayed, and keep away from berries within a few metres of a busy road. On private land, ask first; on common land and footpaths, take only fruit from the hedge itself, never from planted margins.

Timing matters. Elderberries are ready from late August into September, when the clusters hang heavy and dark. Blackberries run from August through October, and are sweetest on a dry, sunny afternoon. Sloes want a frost — or a night in the freezer — before they lose their bitterness, so mid-October to November is your window.

Kit, Picking and Quick Freezing

• Shallow tubs or a trug rather than deep bags, so berries don't crush under their own weight.
• Gardening gloves for blackthorn; sloe thorns go through thin leather.
• Secateurs to snip elderberry heads whole rather than stripping the bush.
• A cool box or basket lined with a tea towel for the journey home.

Blackberries are ready when they pull away from the core with almost no tug. Elderberries should be fully black with no green tinge — the green ones are unripe and upsetting. Sloes are ready when they are a dusty blue-black and give slightly under a thumbnail.

Do not wash soft fruit until you use it. Freeze what you cannot process within a day: spread berries on a tray, freeze, then bag them. Frozen fruit makes cordial-making far easier, as the ice crystals break the cell walls and the juice flows.

Blackberry Jam and Hedgerow Cordial

For a proper set, blackberries need a little help. Use roughly 1kg prepared fruit to 750g granulated sugar, with the juice of one lemon and, if you like a firm set, a chopped cooking apple or 100ml of apple juice per kilo.

Simmer the fruit with 100ml water and the lemon juice for 15 minutes until soft. Add warmed sugar, stir until dissolved, then bring to a rolling boil. Test after 10 minutes: a spoonful on a cold saucer should wrinkle when pushed. Aim for 105°C on a jam thermometer. Pot into hot, sterilised jars, seal, and water-bath for 10 minutes.

For cordial, cover 1kg of berries with 1.2 litres of water, simmer for 20 minutes, then strain through muslin overnight — do not squeeze, or the cordial turns cloudy and dull. For every 500ml of juice, add 400g sugar and the juice of half a lemon, plus 1 tsp citric acid if you want it to keep for a year rather than a month. Heat gently until the sugar dissolves, bring just to the boil, then bottle hot into sterilised bottles.

Elderberry Syrup and Winter Cordial

Elderberries must always be cooked. Raw berries, leaves and stems contain compounds that cause nausea, so strip the berries from the stalks with a fork and discard every green berry and every piece of red stem. Cook thoroughly and never eat the raw pulp.

Simmer 1kg of stripped berries with 600ml water for 30 minutes, mashing as you go. Strain through muslin. To each 500ml of juice add 400g sugar, a squeeze of lemon, and a few cloves or a thumb of ginger if you want a winter warmer. Bottle hot. A spoonful stirred into hot water is the traditional remedy when the first cold of the season arrives.

For a jelly, cook the same way but use 600g sugar per 600ml of strained juice and boil to setting point — it is superb with roast game or on hot buttered toast.

Sloes: Gin, Syrup and Jelly

Sloes are too sour for most things raw, but they make the finest liqueur in the pantry. Use 450g sloes, 200g sugar and 700ml of good gin. Prick each sloe with a needle or freeze them overnight and bash them lightly; frozen berries split on their own.

Tip into a sterilised jar, add the sugar, pour over the gin, seal, and shake every few days for the first fortnight. Leave in a cool dark cupboard for at least three months, then strain and bottle. The spent berries, stoned and folded into dark chocolate, are worth the effort.

For a cordial, simmer 1kg of sloes with 1 litre of water for 30 minutes, strain, then add 500g sugar per 600ml of juice and bottle hot. It makes a sharp, deep-red drink with soda water, and a superb base for a hot toddy.

Sterilising, Sealing and Storing

Everything that touches the fruit must be clean. Wash jars in hot soapy water, rinse, then either run them through a hot dishwasher cycle or stand them upright in an oven at 160°C for 15 minutes. Fill while the jars are still hot, seal immediately, and label with the fruit and the date.

Keep jars in a cool, dark pantry or cupboard. Jams and jellies are best within 12 months; cordials and syrups within six to nine months once opened. Check seals before storing — a lid that flexes when pressed means the jar has not sealed and should be refrigerated and used within a fortnight. A shelf of dark, glinting jars in January, when the lane outside is grey and bare, is reward enough for a few muddy afternoons in September.