WINE GARDEN

[Waldo]

My recipe would be:
3-4 lbs Plums per gallon
2 lbs. light honey
1/2 tsp. tannin
1 tsp Pectic Enzyme
1 tsp Yeast Nutrient
1/2 tsp Yeast Energizer
1/4lb. Golden raisins
Montrachet Yeast

 

[Wade E]

That is very close to the recipe I used. This in my opinion is a wine better left a little sweet so I used Cotes Des Blanc yeast and started my abv high and let it finish off sweet. At 13% abv its a little high for a fruit wine but with the natural sweetness left in there it works well and will probably start doing this a little more often as long as the results come out the same. I know this is not a sure fore way to do it but I now did 2 wines this way and you get a better flavor this way. Someday i will get the equipment to sterile filter to stop the fermentation when I want!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Guess we are not into sweeter wines....

Honey and raisins sound interesting.

Wild Plum has been so tricky so far....We are using it for cooking wine...

But it was some of our first wines we made.
Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[NorthernWinos]

Took the 'Dink-Around' [Gator/chore tractor] to pick the last apple tree....Poor little tree....Have picked many buckets off of it already and got this bounty this morning....No wonder it only produces every other year....It is a Harlson Red tree...a Bi-annual producer.

It's poor little limbs were touching the ground...it will breathe a sigh of relief tonight.

More juice to be made....More wines to enjoy!!!!

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[jobe05]

Rather impressive harvest NW. Did those come from that little tree that you posted picture of last year????? How old is that tree?

They also look very bug free and spot free, do you spray them? Around here the apples get all spotted unless they are sprayed with something.

 

[NorthernWinos]

This tree was planted in 1999 when we moved here...So, it has been around. It is a smaller tree and produces every other year, the nature of the variety, but really gives a good crop....it is a very hardy tree....and very disease free.

The trees we planted at that time all did suffer from sun scald and were all very damaged with splits in the main trunk and branches....I did a pretty odd thing when I saw that one spring....I thought the sap would ooze and bugs would get in the splits and kill the tree....I took a big jar of a Vaseline type product that we had left over from livestock/cattle days and gobbed it on the woulds....It is still there many years later...it did seal the wounds and the poor little trees all survived. So, if anyone ever has sun scald splits in your apple/fruit tree trunks...Give it a try.

I have never sprayed our apple trees. I did find a few worms in one variety and another variety had some small scabby patches....

I think we have been living on borrowed time and that next year I will maybe spray in early spring....also, might hang some sticky red balls to catch what ever makes little dents in some of the apples,then inside it looks like maybe a worm had been there....Geez....Now I forget which tree that was....

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[NorthernWinos]

Beautiful weather, warm, sunny and fairly calm....

Been outside looking for last minute chores to be done....

Figured I should paint the young fruit trees....We seem to always have a problem of Sun Scald and splitting bark in about March....

The warm sun heats the bark and gets the sap running, then the cold nights freezes the trunks and branches and they split.

Painting with white paint is suppose to redirect the heat....Have had success in the past.

 

[OilnH2O]

When I lived as a kid in Illinois, a lot of the trees lining the streets and in the parks were painted white, as were orchard trees. I always figured it was a way to sell white-wash and keep kids out of trouble!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Well, with this beautiful weather I guess I haven't really "Thrown in the Trowel" for the year....At least not thrown in the shovel...

I had sprayed some old rows of Raspberries this fall with RoundUp to kill and eventually replace them. The RoundUp did a good job and Jim had dug some of them a few weeks ago, it was pretty muddy then and they weren't coming out real easily. I was going to finish them today and he did it for me...He said they had really rotted the past few weeks and came out easily.

I dug a trench and will fill it with compost maybe tomorrow....weather seems to be holding....Will plant the long row with summer bearing Raspberries and the short row will be Blackberry/Raspberry type plants....

The Garlic is tucked in for the winter...

A few fruits are hanging onto the trees and vines...

Bittersweet.....some people make wine out of these...Nothing eats them....

Ornamental Flowering Crabapples.....Some people are known to make wine of these as well....The Robins eat them in the spring when they have rotted and fermented...

The few Aronia [Chokeberries] remain on the plant....they really aren't bad tasting and anxious to have enough to make wine....Don't know why nothing has eaten them...

Life remains Good on the High Plains....

.....
But a change in weather is about to come....Dang!!!


Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[Wade E]

Are those berries in the 1st picture known as wine berries. We have some around here that look just like them and my neighbor who is a horticulturist said they are wine berries.

 

[gaudet]

Northern,

I don't know where you get your energy from. But you need to let us know your secret. I want your fountain of youth please................

 

[NorthernWinos]

Wade....Bittersweet grow on a vine and are usually high up in the tops of other trees....

Gaudet....Fountain of Youth passed me buy...I haven't done anything all summer....seems I spent many days laying on the sofa....Just happy to feel good and have the will to do a few last minute chores outside....

Motivated by 60% chance of rain by Tuesday night and snow by Thursday...

 

[gaudet]

So you are making up for lost time. I know about what you have been through. A friend of mine in TN has been in the battle as well. Shes one hell of a fighter. Without knowing you, I really think that you are of the same spirit that she is.

 

[Wade E]

Ahhh, didnt see the vines there but we have a small tree with fruit that look exactly the same. I know nothing about fruit trees so dont eat any, safer that way.

 

[NorthernWinos]

The American Bittersweet we have is growing all over our woods....It climbs on other trees and will sometimes girdle the tree with the vine and kill the tree....

The berries are used in fall decorations...

I see on this page they say the berries are toxic....

Won't be making any wine of of that....

http://www.djroger.com/bittersweet.htm

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[NorthernWinos]

It was 15°F this morning....Calm, hasn't warmed up much, but the sun if finally out after a few cold and gloomy days...

A good day to do some transplanting.....Did the first Elderberry cuttings..they had roots coming out the bottom of their 'communal' pots.

At the rate they grow under the lights they will outgrow these little pots by Christmas....I am going to have some big plants by spring....

The later Elderberry and Black Currant cuttings are coming along too....

Edited by: Northern Winos

 

[NorthernWinos]

While you Southerners are thinking about planting your Vineyards up here on the frozen prairies the weather has been downright nasty...It's either way below 0°F or snowing...One of those.."Old Fashioned Winters"

Seemed a good day to order this years garden seeds, much to my surprise the phone lines were busy at Stokes...usually get right through during the first week of the New Year....Everything was in stock and will be shipped within a few days.

I have been watching the Native Elderberry and Black Currant cuttings grow and the pots have been drying out quickly, so knew it was time to cut them back and re-pot into larger 'homes'..

The plants had taken on the shape of the florescent light fixture reflector....They were not happy...but alive.

The roots needed loosening and the tops looked better after a good 'hair cut'.....

They all have grown far faster than I had thought they would. I did take cuttings from the trimmings of the Black Currants....The Elderberries trimmings could have been rooted, but have limited light space.

So, my babies are alive and well and will continue to grow and look forward to a new home outdoors....Someday!!!

 

[grapeman]

I always love seeing your little Garden of Eden there in the frozen north. Those sure have some nicely developed roots. Great job.

 

[NorthernWinos]

All I really want are good roots...the tops are optional until they go outdoors.

We are in Gully Township...Eden Township is across the road.....

 

[grapeman]

All I really want are good roots...the tops are optional until they go outdoors.

We are in Gully Township...Eden Township is across the road.....

We all knew you lived in or near The Garden of Eden!


Nope, don't worry about the tops now- the roots are where they are at!