For the first time at Eden Valley Woodland Burial Ground a hedgehog has been spotted in our woodlands. In October Martin, the manager at Eden Valley was lucky enough to see a hedgehog rummaging through the woodland leaf litter. It has become increasingly rare to see hedgehogs as their numbers have been in declining but hopefully this first sighting will be the first of many and we will have happy, healthy hedgehogs in our woodlands and across our natural site.
This autumn the Blackthorn bushes seemed to have produced an abundance of sloe berries. This is fantastic news for the wildlife at Eden Valley as the berries provide a valuable autumnal and winter food source. The deep purple berries are also edible for humans but they are rather sharp and very dry. Perhaps their best use and for what they are best known for is for flavouring gin, to make sloe gin. All you need is a few hundred grams of sloes, some sugar (or not) and some very cheap gin and a sealed jar to put them in. Shake the jar every now and again and after 10 to 12 weeks you have lovely sloe gin. if you are going to pick some of the sloes at Eden Valley please be aware that the Blackthorn bushes on which they grow are spikey, so be careful and also leave plenty of sloes on the bushes for all the birds and wildlife.
