Apple Wine

We still have a couple of buckets of apples in the shed. They were not particularly tasty apples, a bit tart, which is disappointing considering that we had to wait a couple of years to get more than two on the tree. The three fruit trees that are outside our back door were planted before we bought the house so I don't know all the varieties, the one on the right is the apple, the middle tree is a Victoria plum and the left hand tree I think is a pear tree but it has never produced any fruit.

Today's recipe is APPLE WINE.

Take 6 lb. of good apples, remove any bruised areas.
Clean them, grate them, (compost) bin the cores.
Soak the grated apples in 1 gallon of water for 24 hours, stirring occasionally, then crush the pulp with your hands and strain, muslin is best. An old, clean pair of tights would do the job. The juice really needs strained again to get the juice nice and clear, use a jelly bag or use your imagination!
The juice now needs heating, bring it to the boiling point then let it simmer for 5 minutes. Measure out 4 lb. of sugar into a brewing barrel and add the hot apple juice, stir well to dissolve the sugar. Then add 1 lb. of raisins, cut up into pieces. Once the mix is cool enough (blood temperature) you can add the yeast. Cover and ferment for 14 days, after which strain and bottle.

A proper wine yeast is the best if you have a home brew shop handy, or you can get it online. I haven't used "The Home Brew Shop" but they stock loads of equipment and the prices look reasonable. They also have recipes and information on the site.

Get brewing, you'll never look back! Healthy, cheap drinks that can serve with pride!!

Long time no see

There has been lots to do in the garden this year, but not the spare time to do it in. Unfortunately the garden had to take a back seat this year, I have had to work lots of hours and make hundreds of bars of soap!

The only good thing is the realisation that the garden doesn't really need me any more! (boo hoo). It has hardly missed me, produced lots of lovely flower displays and tubs and tubs of fruit. My vegetable supply is embarrassing but so what, the fruit tastes nicer anyway. Many a happy breakfast hour was spent sitting by the pond with a bowl of muesli and yoghurt topped up with freshly picked black and red currants.

Which has to lead me onto a rant about the weather, yes I know I live in Scotland and we are not famous for our long, hot summers but why!!!!!!!!!!! The few weeks that were was hot and sunny was missed by me, except when carrying decorating gear in and out houses.

Now we are well into October the mornings are getting frosty, the tomatoes in the polytunnel are dying and I am starting to plan for winter again. The used bedding from the rabbits is getting piled up at the base of vunerable plants and generally thrown about over the strawberries. The next plan is to get the rabbit hutch protected against the worst of the weather. The forecast for this year is for a hard winter again, great for taking photographs but less good for just about anything else!

Rich Pickings?

I haven't really done well in the garden this year, rubbish weather and a lack of time as usual but the fruit has been good. The blueberries (American style ones) are sat in pots that are a bit too small for them now and have still produced a good few handfuls of healthy fruit. This is the first we have had and they are lovely.

They have not made their way into the kitchen, not much does, and I may not tell anyone about them. My dad ate loads of my peas, every time I looked he was out in the garden with a guilty expression on his face. No sooner had he gone home and the next lot were just looking good then my other half's mum was round and munched the rest.
At least pigeons you can shoot.

Some tomatoes are ready at last, they seem terrible slow this year. Most of the outdoor toms have died from blight, third year running. Last year the greenhouse toms showed signs of it and I sprayed them with the E.M. microbes, they recovered themselves straight away.

The cucumbers have been good. Only complaint is, who wants to eat cucumbers once the weather has gone cold? I had on two jumpers and my long johns today, and that was just for inside the house.

I have been making more of an effort lately to be a bit more self sufficient. I have not used the hoover in a couple of weeks, we don't have carpet here anyway except on the stairs so brushing is easy. Our only heating at the moment is the pot belly stove (hence all the jumpers), the central heating is not on yet, and all last winter it was on almost as low as it would go. Mind you, the bill was still high but I don't fancy leaving it off totally.

I was eating some of the weeds in the polytunnel as well!! Only the tasty ones.
I found some fat beech nuts the other day, ok for a nibble but I think that I would starve if I had to manage properly. Unless I could still have a sly nosey in the supermarket skips! sshhh!