On 11/15/2010 07:22 AM, Rusty Hinge wrote:
Assuming it can be done legally (and there are a *LOT* of restrictions
on the importing of live vegetable matter

Yes, it is very onerous to import plants into the US. be very careful
that your source has the appropriate phytosanitary certification. I
believe they need to be sent with the roots washed. The bottom of this
page has some explanation of the problems involved.

http://www.esveld.nl/codes/engels/hven.htm

-E

Thank you everyone for such great information. At my location, the weather has been completely unpredicatable but tends to be a bit milder than most of northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- think, upper East Anglia but with summer humidity and more snow but no terribly low temperatures. We are in a small microclimate here because of the Deleware river. A very light frost was seen about a week ago. We probably won't see snow until the first week of January. My soil is mostly clay but the location for the sloes is very well drained and my property is elevated from the surrounding area. There used to be a couple of cherry trees nearby. I have been in touch with the company in Oregon and last year they didn't have sloes -- they admit that Prunus Spinosa is hit or miss. I will get in touch with the NJ Dept of Enviromental Protection to be sure that I don't break any laws.

On 15/11/2010 20:48, wrnchbndr wrote:
Thank you everyone for such great information. At my location, the
weather has been completely unpredicatable but tends to be a bit milder
than most of northern New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- think, upper East
Anglia but with summer humidity and more snow but no terribly low
temperatures. We are in a small microclimate here because of the
Deleware river. A very light frost was seen about a week ago. We
probably won't see snow until the first week of January. My soil is
mostly clay but the location for the sloes is very well drained and my
property is elevated from the surrounding area. There used to be a
couple of cherry trees nearby. I have been in touch with the company in
Oregon and last year they didn't have sloes -- they admit that Prunus
Spinosa is hit or miss. I will get in touch with the NJ Dept of
Enviromental Protection to be sure that I don't break any laws.

It may well be easier to find the right plant US "common" name and buy
it in the USA. I suspect your problem finding it is due having another
name on your side of the pond. A similar but slightly larger wild sour
plum in Japan is called ume (and again is used to flavour drinks).

I take it you are well aware that sloe bushes are rather spiny and a bit
rampant. It is used as a stock proof hedge where I live in North
Yorkshire and is hardy to at least -10C in our soggy wet winters. The
sloes are only worth harvesting after they have been frosted. Sloe gin
is good and aromatic but looks like pink paraffin in the early stages.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin Brown wrote:

I take it you are well aware that sloe bushes are rather spiny and a bit
rampant. It is used as a stock proof hedge where I live in North
Yorkshire and is hardy to at least -10C in our soggy wet winters.

And a jab from one of those spines often turns septic.

The
sloes are only worth harvesting after they have been frosted. Sloe gin
is good and aromatic but looks like pink paraffin in the early stages.

You can get over that by wrapping a bag of them in bubblewrap and/or a
towel, etc, and put them in a freezer. This slows down the cooling, then
the ice crystals which form do so slowly and puncture the cell walls.

--
Rusty

On 18/11/2010 20:07, Rusty Hinge wrote:
Martin Brown wrote:

I take it you are well aware that sloe bushes are rather spiny and a
bit rampant. It is used as a stock proof hedge where I live in North
Yorkshire and is hardy to at least -10C in our soggy wet winters.

And a jab from one of those spines often turns septic.

The sloes are only worth harvesting after they have been frosted. Sloe
gin is good and aromatic but looks like pink paraffin in the early
stages.

You can get over that by wrapping a bag of them in bubblewrap and/or a
towel, etc, and put them in a freezer. This slows down the cooling, then
the ice crystals which form do so slowly and puncture the cell walls.

So I have been told. Never done it though.

We make sloe gin roughly every other year - and some years the birds
wolf all of them before we even get a chance to go and grab a harvest.

Regards,
Martin Brown

On Nov 15, 1:51*pm, Emery Davis wrote:
On 11/15/2010 07:22 AM, Rusty Hinge wrote:

Assuming it can be done legally (and there are a *LOT* of restrictions
on the importing of live vegetable matter

Yes, it is very onerous to import plants into the US. *be very careful
that your source has the appropriate phytosanitary certification. *I
believe they need to be sent with the roots washed. *The bottom of this
page has some explanation of the problems involved.

http://www.esveld.nl/codes/engels/hven.htm

-E

You don't want to be importing this dangerous weed to the US.
Blackberries for example were taken to Australia. VERY bad move.
You have lots of European stuff over there which was a very bad idea,
from European grasses in the prairie to sparrows and starlings. We
have your blasted squirrels over here. Forget it.