Still getting carried away in making homebrew and wine,this time I've bought a IPA beer kit which I've never tried before i will have to get a bigger shed. Also going to make some more beetroot wine which didn't take the first time,but that might of been a error on my side so hope this one works.
I picked a few swedes up last week a couple for tea and freezing ,then 4lb of them to make wine. I heard the swede wine is supposed to be sweet,but takes a while for it to a drinkable state (12month) I think blood ages. If it works then at least I can eat it and drink it, multitasking swede can't be bad. If I carry on growing to make brews then we will all starve,but at least I'll be tipsy at the same time. I got the recipe online but forgot the site,will post the recipe up and add link to the site later.
Swede Wine.
Ingredients:
4 lb of Swedes
6 pints boiling water to each gallon juice add :
2 to 2½ lbs sugar
juice of 2 lemons
juice of 1 orange
½oz yeast
Method:
1. Wash and slice Swedes - do not peel.
2. Pour over the boiling water and leave for 4 days to infuse.
3. Measure the liquid and add the sugar and juice. Activate the yeast and add - or - spread live yeast on a piece of toast and leave to float on the top.
4. Leave in a warm place to ferment.
5. When the bubbling has ceased the wine should be stirred.
6. Leave for a further 3 days to settle.
7. Strain through flannel or very thick muslin, into a cask, cork and leave for 6 months.
8. Pour into bottles, if not clear then clear as for other wines before bottling.
9. Cork and store in a cool dark place.
Well that's another week nearly over with the weeks are passing so quickly,I've been a couple of times to the plot to get a little done. I have finished digging another section I was a tad tired after I'd finished it,I had to sit down and have a cuppa.
With me not having much luck over the last few years with raspberries,Nigel had trimmed all his rasps down and gave me a few cuttings. So I have it a quick weed and planted about 20 cuttings,I know it's a lot but some of them may not grow. I have a few more to plant so just have to sort some space out.
So now I have my rhubarb / strawberries and rasps all in the same spot,think I might even plant some brambles all for wine making next year. At the beginning of the plot which I'd weeded a few weeks ago, I was going to cover it in gravel just to tidy it up. But I've not had chance to pick any up so I've covered it in wood chipping's,some one had dropped them at the allotment for anyone to use. If and when I do get the gravel I can move the chipping's and replace with gravel,all I've rested the chipping's on is some old carpet tiles .
Last week I decided to make an elderberry wine all from the allotment,we have a few bushes at the back of my plot and along the footpaths. I've never tried them in the past so hoping it tastes ok when done,if it is nice i will have to collect and freeze for future wine making as well as brambles.
I've done some bits down on the plot but not as much as I wanted,but at least I got some bits done. Well at least I got more done than sat on my bottom all day,I do try and update every time I go to the plot but never do. I end up watching TV /reading /or making wine,I know i said it all before the same reasons why it takes ages to blog. Anyway I got most of my onions dried and dead skin peeled,just a few left to do then I will bag them up and bring home.
A little while ago I planted some aubergine seeds hoping i would get some,I have some but not big enough to bring home and eat.
Over the last few days while it's been dry I've done a little more digging,I've done more digging than I did last year. It's a been ok digging due to the little rain we had,also the soil I dug over was mulched with leafs last year. Another thing I've been doing is trying to make more wine from things on the plot,I've done some more bramble and elderberry wines. Going to do some swede and marrow wine once I get some bits together,will have to remember to bag and freeze brambles next when the bushes are full of them.
Trying to use as much veg from the allotment as I can,even if it's just for me to eat and no one else will try. So I decided I would try and use some bigger courgettes that I have,had a quick check online and found some recipes for courgettes. So I decided to make some courgette burgers and had some beetroot chips to go with them, I tell you these little buggers are lovely and will do them again. Mine turned out ok and got better after I'd done a few,even the beetroot chips were lovely should of done more.
