A beautiful sunny day here at Bellaugello near Gubbio,  and we have been busy raiding the last of the wild summer berries.  Today it was from the sloe bush known as ‘prugnolo’ in Italian.  The prugnole are plentiful, the bushes laden with plump fruit.

In Britain we make sloe gin, a good winter warmer, here in Umbria we make sloe jelly.  I’ve not yet tasted sloe jam or jelly but am told it is really good and will be a nice addition to our breakfast buffet next year.  I’m torn between the two, so out will come the jam pan and jelly bag, and I shall just have to go and buy a bottle of gin!