This Year's Farmer's Wine

Yesterday I bottled two gallons of 2018/2019 farmer’s wine.

This sweet, organic, cane sugar wine was made with black currant, rhubarb, wild grape, rosehips, elderberry, bilberry, hibiscus, all coaxed to life with the first blooms of elder.

And there’s lots of love in there too.

I make this wine most every summer when the elders start to bloom. I pull all the suitable fruit from the prior year from the freezer, add it to the fermentation container with organic cane sugar, water, add an herb or two or three or more, and stir in the elderflowers to get the fermentation started. Once it gets going and the fruit is strained out, I continue to add sugar until the fermentation is done. No specific gravity readings, just keep adding sugar 'til the faeries are full. Then it rests and its carboy until autumn, when it gets bottled.

Being a wild fermentation, it’s a gamble, as you can never be certain as to how it will behave, and it’s typically sweeter than I prefer, but always spirited and so far has always been drinkable, and often quite delightful. Like this year. 

This batch is already drinkable, and quite nice for gentle, sweet sipping, and it makes an exceptional spritzer. ::nods::

Sláinte! 🕊

Black Gold

Today I harvested more berries … black currants. I must have a total of four quarts picked and there's still more coming ripe, maybe one more quart or so. 

One batch will become a cordial, another a sauce or maybe a syrup … the rest might become preserves or maybe a small batch of mead. What makes manifest will depend on the time, space and energy I am willing to bend to my will … or the will of the mighty black currant.

Whatever is made, I am confident it will be more valuable than gold. Peace.

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MidSummer Honors

Today I harvested, among other things, Melissa officinalis, commonly called lemon balm.

This first harvest of Melissa will become a Melissa Ale.

Her leaves were stripped, just under a pound, and prepared for the freezer.

She will be delicious.

I also paused this day of MidSummer to anoint my chakras with the morning dew … to read Shakespeare to the trees … to create a tool for myself and a gift for the unsuspecting … I journaled … I spoke my Truth to the rooted ones, to the faint breeze, to the moon, to the sun … I chilled a dusty bottle of rhubarb mead to be imbibed with The Boy as we share a Solstice meal this evening. 

That's what I made today. Peace.

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Juicy Love

Remember those peaches I harvested in August and that elixir I started? Well, today I strained, filtered and bottled it, the juicy love that it is. I made use of two old apothecary bottles that had been sitting empty and just rock-n-rolled some quick labels. If I'm inspired to make the time and invest the effort, I'd like to re- label them "Juicy Love," but once things are done, I generally move on. In any event, it's quite good - as juicy love tends to be - and I suspect it will continue to meld, mellow and improve in the bottles.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Bottled Verjus

Remember the verjus I started back in September? Well, it felt like the time was ripe to strain, filter and bottle it. Besides, I needed the gallon jar in which it was macerating.

The color is gorgeous, the bouquet is magical, and at the first wee sip I began - without hesitation - to recognize the medicinal and mystical extremes within this very tart, remarkably astringent, fragrantly potent and oddly delightful elixir. Now that it's bottled my hope is that the flavors will mellow over time like with my other more conventional cordials and liqueurs.

We shall see. We shall see.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Verjus Brew

Today I started the verjus brew. I decided to put a bit of organic vegetable glycerine in since glycerine is effective for extracting the tannins. It adds a touch of unique sweetness too. Like I said in yesterday's post, I'm making this with little knowledge of the process, yet trusting my experience with making tinctures, cordials and liqueurs and my inner knowing. I like the astringency of tannins and figure it will add to the pucker that this beverage-n-condiment is meant to have. We shall see. All in good time.

That's what I made today. Peace.

The Beginnings of Verjus

Last night The Boy (the spouse) picked a couple quarts of crabapples for me. My intention for them being to make … a libation and culinary condiment called Verjus.

The other morning I was reading Common Herbs for Natural Health by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and she mentioned verjus in the crabapple section of the materia medica - just a brief mention. That sentence-or-two resonated so that it set me in motion to learn more about it, especially how to make it. It seems, like most things in life, there's are more than a few methods to creating this elixir. Some are made exclusively with not-quite-ripe green grapes (thus the name verjus, meaning green juice), some with crabapple and some a combination. Some are fermented like wine and others macerated in alcohol - and vinegar. But my research was warp speed and focused purely on coveting just enough information to get me brewing. I'm sure you can find out much more about it if you like. Me too.

So as I said, The Boy picked me some of our ripe crabapples and with a little information and a lot of intuition I set to de-stemming them.

I washed them and put them in the freezer overnight. It's one of the best ways I know of for encouraging cell wall breakdown in botanicals without heat. Even so, I processed half the crabapples to extract some juice with low heat and put the others in a gallon jar to thaw and breakdown on there own. I combined the two and now leave them to sit overnight. I imagine a bit more liquid will be evident in the morning.

Tomorrow I'll add 1/2 cup of sugar, 2 quarts of grain alcohol and 1/2 quart wine vinegar to the fruit. I'll put the jar in my dispensary with my other macerating botanicals for a few months.

I suppose that some time around Yule I'll strain it, add another 1/2 cup of sugar and let it sit a couple more weeks before seeing what it tastes and feels like. While my process of making this is my own adaptation, I understand that it is quite magical, good on salads and fruit dishes and is used in an array of meat dishes.

We shall see.

That's what I made today. Peace.

Apple Starts

Today I went apple picking with a new and rather wonderful friend. You know, those rare folk with whom you feel a subtle, yet undeniable connection. So I came home with apples. Many apples, and now have many apple-ish projects lined up for the days ahead. But today I made the first batch of brandied applesauce and started - what you see here in the photo - a batch of apple-cardamom brandy cordial.

That's what I made today.

Bread from Mead

I have an electrical storm ... so all you get is the title and photo today! Even so, your comment gets you an entry in Win a Whimsy!

A Delectable Blend

We had some elderberry wine left from last night, so I mixed it with a fresh bottle of rhubarb mead and ... it ... is ... delectable! I think it will complement the Muckies ever so nicely. So while I made several things today - not the least being a return of Win a Whimsy! - this is all I'm sharing at the moment, because I have a fire to light, weenie sticks to gather and other assorted fireside activities to manage! See ya!

Magic & Wisdom

I worked with bee balm blossoms to make a little magic. Magic that will see a future similar to this ...

Two little batches of sacred herbal ales were bottled today. One is called "Green Rain" and is made with rain water collected on the summer solstice and green tea. I feel this will likely taste more like a cider than an ale. The other is a Sage Wise Ale and this is - without doubt or question - going to be awesome! It is very likely that I will be brewing a larger batch of this - and soon. Wisdom can be demanding and impatient that way. Slainte!

A Mess & A Dent

Tired of seeing brewing images? Yeah? Too bad. Because I'm in the throes of a brewing frenzy, having way too much fun trying "new" old herbal "recipes" and other spirited experiments. And so it is that such messes are made ...

... the Sage Ale that I started yesterday turned vivaciously active overnight and I awoke to a mess on the brew table, though was reminded of the value of the trays that I use! I had to remove the airlock, clean it well and then just covered the carboy with a glass bowl for most of the day to keep it relatively safe from invaders while it worked out its fits ...

... not before loosing a good 8-10 ounces of the nectar. Such is life, eh? Of course, I tasted it and can tell that I'm gonna like it. The airlock is back on now and I hope that the yeasties find their rightful balance in the realm of this wise and lively brew!

Aside from making this mess (well, the yeasties did it, but I was working in collusion with them), I made a respectable dent in "paper" work of several sorts. Oh, this included the routine bills, but also bookkeeping, filing, perusing files and binders to purge that which no longer adds value. And even though this dent is but a (never-ending) beginning, one which will be attacked again tomorrow, it felt GOOD.

That's what I made. And for now, I will enjoy a nice bowl of simple homemade chicken soup (to celebrate the 1st of July???), and invest some time adding layers to my Figures of Love, and watching "Death at a Funeral." Caio!

More Brews

Today a made a number of things that fall into one of two categories: Unphotographable or Whowouldwanttoseeitevenifyoucould. But I did bottle two gallons of sacred ale, one of Melissa and one of Cardamom. Pretty, aren't they?

I replenished my yeast stash and got that make-up Melissa mead going and started a batch each of Wormwood and of Sage. My Monarda (bee balm) will be blooming any day and I plan to make a batch of ale with those blossoms. Brewing season has indeed begun!

The Most of a Sunny Day

Today was a mostly sunny day - the first one in weeks, and I made my way into the garden to face facts. Many - if not most - of the seedlings that were put in or sprouted in the past 2-3 weeks are no more. Several of my peppers are in question as well, yet most of the tomatoes seem fine enough. I did more transplanting and put in more seeds and offered blessings yet again. I harvested another half-pound of Melissa to start the infusion for my next batch of Melissa mead - one to make up for the "bad situation" batch the other day. Halley liberated herself and upon her return I hosed her down and then chilled on the late afternoon deck to enjoy the last bottle of our Hopped Porter Variation that I humorously labeled "HPV." Well - I think it's funny. This was one of the best dark ales we've ever made and I savored every drop.

My latest little "Figures of Love" were finally fully dry and I started painting the first layers. Today I cleaned earth and paint from under my nails. Today I made the most of a sunny day.

The Best of a Bad Situation

After a lovely visit from my sweet friend Granny Annie I got to work on two one gallon batches of mead. What's bad about that? Well ... yesterday I harvested and prepared a half-pound of Melissa officinalis (lemon balm) for steeping overnight. This morning I added green tea, lemon juice, cooked banana and 3 pounds of delicious local honey. What's so bad about that? Well, I hydrated the wine yeast, got a PA reading and got to vigorously stirring oxygen into the mead-to-be. Thing is, for my one gallon wine-n-mead batches, I start the primary fermentation in glass jars and normally I stir with my plastic wine spoon, and today I was stirring with my stainless steel spoon, that is until ...

CRACK!

And I watched with a stunned despair as what would have been five bottles of delicious Melissa mead cascade down the kitchen drain. So sad. So very, very sad.

Even so I was glad that I was stirring the batch in the sink. All I could really do is sigh a blessing down the drain and out into the deep, dark depths of the septic system. Such is life.

But I had yeast waking up on the counter, so I had to act fast! I had some rose petals and earl grey tea leaves steeping and bananas cooked for another project, so I measured out three pounds of honey, heated it with as little water as I could get away with, added cool water, the rose infusion, strained tea, mashed bananas and stirred it with the plastic spoon. I pitched the yeast with a cheer of love and gratitude. What else could I do?

I'll be naming this batch "Emergency Mead." It will be as close to a "straight" mead as I've ever made. In any event I continued with the rose petal batch, making the adjustments for the stolen elements. Both are bubbling away nicely.

And me? I'm delighted and grateful to have sweet friends to share it with. When the time comes. Slainte!

My Way into the Light

Daybreak arrived with a strange light shining down from a blue sky. Quite frankly, it was a bit like waking to an alien landscape. I asked, "Is that the sun?" Really - I did. Well, it came and went, dancing with cloud cover throughout the day. No rain though. Like a miracle. Afternoon came and I hit the mostly dry gardens. I harvested a few quarts of strawberries, some cat mint and peppermint. The catmint, while past-prime, will be dried for teas and the peppermint will become a pesto. Several seedlings did not survive the last several days of constant cloud cover and rain fall. Such is life. Time for contingency plans. After all, I don't garden as a hobby. I garden to grow a large part of my own food. Most folks don't understand this - even when they say they do.

The strawberries were sorted. Fresh picked garlic scapes were chopped and last week's infused vinegar was strained onto today's fresh pickings to continue the infusion. Gonna be good! I love garlic scape infused vinegar, to me it has a buttery flavor. Somehow, a bottle of mead and a bottle of cranberry wine found their way to the harvest table. Hey - the sun was shining - and I should too!

Now ... while my little acre is mostly dry, I have more Melissa to harvest so I can start a Melissa MEAD! Later!

Waste Not

That "chamomile start" I made yesterday continued today with the straining of the steeped plant matter, the addition of sugar, lemon juice and the yeast, all of which found a happy and loving home together in a one gallon jug.

It's bubbling nicely next to a melissa ale and sarsaparilla ale. The gallon of cardamom ale, formerly sharing this space, was primed, bottled and put away today, and will be ready to imbibe in a few weeks.

Amid the herbal brewing, I made time to enjoy a more "conventional" homebrew.

I strained and bottled the chive flower vinegar that I started several weeks back. It's a bottled springtime gem, it is.

I made dinner.

And I foraged in the garden for dessert again.

The evening winds down with two small loaves of bread I made with the brewers yeast from the bottom of the barrel of that cardamom ale I bottled. Waste not, want not!

That's what I made today.

A Chamomile Start

Yesterday I harvested the tops of the little self-sown chamomile plants and started a cold, overnight steep for the ale I'm starting today.

More on that later ...

Ale-n-Widget

I bottled the Crazy Collaboration Ale that was started in March. It is an odd mix of maple syrup, dried apples, coffee beans and wormwood. The best part is, it's gonna be very good for us bitter-lovers!

I started the base for a Melissa Ale. It'll steep overnight with the organic earl grey tea and prepare it for primary fermentation tomorrow.

And, if you look to the right and top of this blog you'll see the widget I made today - a button you're invited to grab and post anywhere you like!

Brews

Today I started a new gallon batch of yet another ale-experiment that I'm calling it Apple Spice, though the final name hinges on the flavor of the finished brew. I simmered together dried apples, cardamom seed, cinnamon bark, orange peel and wormwood, then added hibiscus flowers too steep - all organic. It will be ready to prime and bottle in a few weeks, then ready to taste a few weeks after that. I wonder what I'll brew next?

The boy and I scoured the back "lawn" and harvested a few violet flowers. It is a pleasant, zen-like task in any weather, yet one that is especially pleasing on a day like today.

With these lovely flowers I opted to make a brew of another sort - an infused vinegar. I'm looking forward to harvesting more ... and then, as they mature, the leaves for skin-softening infused oils. All in good time, my pretty. All in good time.

There was more, but for most part, that's what I made today.