some winter berries

Wild bullace – made into jams and jellies by country people in the past – and into bullace vodka in Russia – to warm the Siberian winters – made by soaking the fruit in the spirit with sugar for a year or more until the flavours of the fruit merge into the liquid

and sloes for sloe gin, made in much the same way – with the addition of some unpeeled almonds – until it turns a gorgeous magenta-pink – a traditional home-made liqueur for Christmas

and hawthorn berries for the birds….

Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains a single grain; but if it dies, it yields a rich harvest.
St John's Gospel