For the Birds

Have you ever grown anything specifically with wild birds in mind? Many people plant things like thistle, cone flower, rose and various berries specifically to invite their feathered friends to grab a snack as they’re passing through. Even if you’re not a bird watcher (or “birder”) it is definitely nice to have the flit of movement across your vision in the dead cold of winter. We are often seasonally visited by juncos, ceder waxwings and Boreal chickadees, and the cardinals, gold finches and blue jays rarely leave for the winter.

I have always made sure there were plenty of prickly seeds and squishy berries for the little guys, but it wasn’t until this year that I decided to try growing so of my own birdseed to put up for winter.Of course, I’ve grown sunflowers in the past, but the chickadees and finches always managed to pluck all of the tiny morsels from their seats before I was able to bring them in to dry for the winter (this year I did manage to get a few, though!)

Millet. It’s a humble grain, often forgotten, and it has to be one of the easiest things I’ve ever grown. In fact, prior to this year I had been pulling it out of the flower beds in a futile and tangled war between myself and those-things-I-used-to-call-weeds. This year I decided that as long as it wasn’t killing anything else with it’s unruly sprawl, I would leave the volunteer army of millet in various places in the garden.

It isn’t a small plant, mind you. The one I have out front is more than six feet tall and sprawls roughly four feet in diameter, but it is a beautiful plant to see nodding it’s heavy, sleepy seed heads in the late summer breeze. This morning I began cutting the largest of the seed heads and drying them. For now I’ll be drying them in our kitchen, but as the season progresses I’ll be moving the millet and sunflowers to the barn to hang where they will season until the birds need them most: the dead of winter.

Millet is not a particularly palatable grain for birds, but it does provide protein and vital energy for them in the cold shivery months. The way I have always fed it is mixed with a bit of sunflower seed to encourage them to try it. Once they realize that it’s a source of food, despite not being terribly tasty, they are on the feeders regularly as soon as the wild sources of food run out.

The one thing I try to do above all else is keep the feeders full during the winter. The birds that come to your feeders are there specifically because there is a food source. If the food source stops, they move on, but they don’t always make it to the next food source, especially in some of the nasty Michigan weather we get up here.

I’m sure I’ll be buying birdseed from the store this winter (many stores sell it in bulk and you can bring your own containers!) but I’ll also be supplementing with what I’ve grown. If you have the space for it, give it a shot. This year my millet required absolutely no extra effort at all, except to cut it and hang it to dry. Planting it was simple – in most cases the birds took care of that for me. If I really wanted to plant a patch, I’d just scratch up the dirt a bit and sprinkle it with millet seeds. It’s a pretty intense little booger, so  once you grow it plan to have it around for years to come.

Next year I plan to try a few other bird seeds as well as some millet for our own personal use. I did plant some sorghum this spring, but its long season requirements might mean it doesn’t finish developing before it conks out for the year. Ah well. The point is, while you’re putting up food for yourself this fall, considering putting some up for the feathered folk as well!

Have you ever grown your own wild bird seed? Which varieties have you grown?

Want to read more from Tanglewood Farm? Check out Emily’s blog over at A Pinch of Something Nice where she writes about her experiences with her gardens, her livestock and her leased historical home in SE Michigan.

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The Groundcherry

Back in Tennessee our property was covered with groundcherries (sometimes known as stone cherries, husk tomatoes, and sometimes Cape Gooseberries). Had I known how absolutely wonderful they tasted I would have taken full advantage of this free resource. I should have taken the time to identify the differences between the nightshade plants and the groundcherry instead of ripping out every lookalike for fear that my daughter would find the colorful fruit irresistible. After all, I could easily tell the difference between a tomatillo and Chinese lantern. They’re all part of the Physalis genus, and in the Solanaceae family which also gives us peppers and tomatoes. In my defense, our property was also covered with the smooth ground cherry – a known hallucinogenic (smooth groundcherry leaves are almost hairless and given the Latin name P. subglabrata).

When picking wild foods education is everything.

I said they were delicious, didn’t I? Yes, yes indeed. But it seems they’re a bit like cilantro. You either love ‘em or you hate ‘em. They have an evolving flavor. For me, they start of tasting like a pineapple, then mellow out a bit like a tomato with a distinctive flavor from its relative, the tomatillo. Hubby thinks they taste like bacon and pancakes, and finish like a tomato. The Kid despises them, but then again she is revolting against all fruits and vegetables at this time. If you can find them in your yard or in the wild, consider yourself lucky! I was fortunate to find them at the farmers market. I hope you get the chance to sample one this summer as they’re not only tasty, they’re rich in provitamin A – a healthy sweet and tart treat. If you get them, buy some up as they can last in cool storage for 3-6 months.

Groundcherry Salsa

(Phenomenal on fish, chicken, or chips)

• 1 cup groundcherries, sliced in half
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 cup (about three large) tomatillos, diced
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1 clove garlic, smushed
• salt and pepper to taste
• (optional: green chilies, jalapenos, and/or cilantro)

Remove husks from ground cherries and tomatillos and wash them along with the tomatoes. Chop, dice and mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Ta Daaa! Couldn’t be much easier or healthy to add some flavor to a simple dish.

 

Chocolate covered Groundcherries

• Melting chocolate such as bark
• Groundcherries

1. Pull husks of groundcherries up, but do not remove. Wash fruit and allow to dry. Try not to get husks wet.
2. While they’re drying, melt chocolate in a double boiler over low heat and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
3. Use husks as a handle and dip the cherry in the chocolate, then set on parchment to cool completely.
4. If hard chocolates aren’t your thing, consider fondue!

Jennifer can be found at Unearthing this Life; her blarg about self-sustainability, gardening, cooking, and family.

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Elderflowers

The end of cool, spring days are long gone here in the southeast (and most of the Midwest for that matter), and we’re working our way into a hot and dry summer. Though the days may be thick with heat, we’re fortunate that the fragrance in the air is sweet, making odoriferous (read: sweaty) outdoor life a little more bearable. Between the honeysuckle, magnolia blooms, the last of the spring roses, and now elderflowers (also known as Sambucus), the perfume outdoors is downright heavenly.

In the past I’ve talked about elderberries,  but the flowers that make those berries are just as – if not more than – extraordinary, and dare I say: exquisite. If you’ve ever had the opportunity to sample the blossoms in liqueur form (aka St. Germain) you’d recognize the slightly lemon and honey undertones in the air. It’s a sweet, heady, and perfumed flavor, but not quite cloying. Elderflower liqueur or syrup is definitely spring in a bottle. The liqueur or syrup is gorgeous mixed with champagne, it makes a lovely iced tea, and numerous other cocktails. Just don’t consume too many or the alkaloids will give you an upset tummy*.

If you do happen across some elder, be sure to leave plenty of blossom heads to produce berries in another month, and then leave some of those berries for wildlife and to produce new shrubs. The berries are an important resource for many critters including birds and many moths. Pick the blooms that are open as it’s the pollen that helps to flavor and color your cordials – avoid those that are already forming berries and blossoms not yet open.

Elderflower Syrup

• 10 large flower heads, largest stems removed, bugs shaken off
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced – avoid bitter pith
• 2 cups water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 Tbsp citric acid

Bring water and sugar just to a boil, then combine remaining ingredients. Allow to steep for 12-24 hours. Strain through muslin, then bottle and keep in refrigerator for up to a week.

Elderflower Syrup Ice Cubes

Simply pour your cooled syrup into ice cube trays and freeze. An excellent way to keep your wines or punches chilled this summer. Also a fabulous

way to extend the life of your syrup which will last about a week in the refrigerator.

Elderflower and Lavender Syrup

Follow directions for Elderflower syrup, but add 5 stems of lavender to 1 pint of liquid. Strain through muslin before bottling.

Elderflower Liqueur

• 5 large flower heads, largest stems removed, bugs shaken off
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups vodka

Strain vodka through a water purifier if you have one available. Put flowers into quart-sized jar then cover with vodka. Allow to steep for about three to four weeks, then strain through muslin cloth. Return vodka to jar and add sugar. If 1/2 cup isn’t sweet enough, add more.

I’ve got all of these above in process currently. Next up is a recipe for elderflower& vanilla panna cotta I found at the River Cottage blog. The apple elderflower jelly and the strawberry elderflower jam both sound divine but I’m afraid those will have to wait until next year because I’m reserving the rest of the flowers for elderberry jam!

*Concerning toxicity via Wikipedia:

The leaves, twigs, branches, seeds and roots contain a cyanide producing glycoside. Ingesting any of these parts in sufficient quantity can cause a toxic build up of cyanide in the body. In addition, the unripened berry, flowers and “umbels” contain a toxic alkaloid.

Due to the possibility of cyanide poisoning, children should be discouraged from making whistles, slingshots or other toys from elderberry wood. In addition, “herbal teas” made with elderberry leaves (which contain cyanide inducing glycosides) should be treated with high caution. However, ripe berries (pulp and skin) are safe to eat”

Information and history of the Elder via the USDA plant guide.

A lovely guide, history, and some recipes vie A Modern Herbal at Botanical.com

***

You can also find Jennifer blarging along at Unearthing this Life when she’s not too busy wrassling turkeys and guineas, chasing chickens, playing with a seven year old, and working her (now) massive garden. She even sometimes tweets her nonsense @unearthingthis1 on Twitter.

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Winemaking and Jelly: Possum Grapes

And just like that Elderberry season is gone! It’s time to move onward in our winemaking extravaganza, for it’s now the season for Possum Grapes. These tiny, buckshot-sized, purple grapes are mostly seed. They grow wild and can engulf entire trees in a season. Most people will cut them back before they have the chance to produce fruit, but if you’re like me you can’t resist any chance to harvest something wild (or free!).  Many people confuse Muscadines (larger and bronze when ripe) with Possum grapes (small and purple when ripe), but one you identify one, the difference will be obvious.

If you’ve read any of my other winemaking posts, feel free to scroll down to the actual recipe. If you’re new to winemaking be sure to read over some of these helpful hints and explanations before moving forward.

Country Wine: Equipment and Ingredients

It is possible to make wine with minimum equipment and purchases. The bare necessities (in my humble experience) that you’ll want include:

• Food-grade bucket, preferably 5-gallon. Check with a local bakery or deli.
• A large strainer or sieve plus some cheesecloth.
• About 4-5 feet of food-grade tubing. Look in the plumbing section of a hardware store.
• Gallon-sized glass carboys or 5-gallon collapsible water cubes. Carboys can be saved from juice purchases. The water cubes are fantastic for making odd-sized batches of wine and can be found at camping supply stores.
• Balloons and cotton balls, or  airlocks.
• Yeast. You can use regular baking yeast, but if you want a better flavor you can opt for different “wine” strains of yeast found at winemaking/brewing stores. I’ve used Montrachet as it’s recommended to balance the flavors of berry wines.
• Bottles and Corks. I save all my bottles from other purchases like wine, vinegar, juice, and so on. I purchased “mushroom” corks since they don’t require a tool to insert them into the bottles.

Optional:

• Campden tablets to sterilize equipment, remove stray yeast and bacteria (highly recommended unless you have problems with sulfites).
• Tannin, citric acid, or Earle Grey tea for flavor balance in sweeter wines.
• Extra sugar or wine conditioner to sweeten and brighten finished wine.
• Pectic acid for removing extra pectin and “clarify” wine.
• Yeast nutrient to feed yeast. Recipes without nutrient require extra sugar.

You can purchase all of these items from a wine and beer making supplier or spend a little more energy and locate many things locally. I purchased my airlock, water cube, yeast, campden tablets, and corks from E.C. Kraus. for less than $50. The rest I found locally or did without.

Possum Grape (Wild Grape) Wine

I altered this recipe based on my purposes, though it’s roughly based on one I found at Wildfoods.info. I highly recommend that you read that entire article before proceeding here. I honestly could not give anywhere near the amount of fabulous information that is offered.

• 1 gallon wild grapes with vine will make about 1 bottle of wine. Multiply recipe as needed.
• 1 gallon Possum Grapes
• 1/3 lb granulated sugar
• 1 campden tablet (1 tablet is good for up to 1 gallon of liquid. One tablet should be enough for up to 3 gallons of grapes)
• 1 tsp yeast

1. Wash grapes. Wrap fruit in cheesecloth or muslin and squeeze as much juice as possible. Alternately you could crush them in a china cap with a dowel, but avoid crushing the seeds. Strain fruit overnight. Add one campden tablet before completing this portion.
2. The next day, add sugar and yeast and mix well. Cap holding container (glass bottle, carboy, watercube) with airlock. *We are very prone to mold and mildews thanks to our humidity. If you have a drier season and desire a more natural wine, you can omit the campden tablet and yeast altogether. Prior to airlocking your wine, allow it to capture a wild yeast. You’ll know you’ve captured one when you see your wine bubbling and have no signs of bacteria. When it begins to bubble you can close your container with your airlock.
3. When the wine stops bubbling you can siphon off the liquid from any sediment with your tubing. Siphon the wine into your sterile bottles and cork. Allow to rest about 6 months before consuming.

Possum Grape (Wild Grape) Jelly

• 1 gallon fruit, stemmed
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 5-1/2 cup sugar
• Pectin if desired

1. Wash grapes. Pour 1 quart boiling water over fruit. Wrap fruit in cheesecloth or muslin and squeeze as much juice as possible. Alternately you could crush them in a china cap with a dowel, but avoid crushing the seeds. Strain fruit overnight.
2. Take four cups of grape juice and mix with remaining ingredients. Bring quickly to soft-ball stage and skim any foam before pouring into sterilized canning jars.
3. Let boil in hot water bath for 15 minutes.
4. Check seals on lids before putting jars in storage. 

Ta daa! You have scrumdillyumptious homemade grape jelly and wine for the price of sugar and some easy pickin’.

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September Planner

So many of us are working our way toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle. With that in mind we wanted to share some general guidelines of what to plan for on a monthly basis. Whether you’re a gardener, a beekeeper, a forager, or you keep animals, hopefully our monthly guides will help you plan ahead for the month. Depending on your exact climate you may find you need to adjust your schedule plus or minus two weeks or more.

 

September is the time of year that we begin to feel the crisp air of Autumn moving in. Evenings are chilly even though afternoons can be very warm. Autumn fruits are beginning to ripen and the thought of spiced cider seem to warm spirits. September is the time for clear skies, bonfires, and wrapping up Summer’s last duties. It’s a big month for tidying up the garden, so hold back those nesting instincts for another month and enjoy the clear, bright skies and cool air.

Indoors

• Be sure your root cellar is ready to accept produce. If you’re using boxes with sand or sawdust make sure they’re clean, sanitized, dry, and critter-proof.
• Be sure your deep freezer is cleaned out. Remove past date items and make room for Fall’s harvests.
• Complete any chores that require you to keep your windows open. Painting, cleaning carpeting, cleaning ovens and so forth should be finished before it gets cold during the daytime.
• Wash items that require long, outdoor drying times or those that can only be taken care of outside. Litter boxes, garbage pails, sanitary pails, area rugs, pillows, and so forth should be washed while the remaining warm air can help with drying.
• Air out winter clothing, blanketing, and other items you may have kept in storage over the warm seasons.
• Be sure your fireplaces are in working order before you need them. Check that wood stacks are staying dry and are easy to get to.
• Check fire and carbon monoxide alarms before lighting up your furnace or fireplace for the first time.

Outdoors

• Be sure your cold frames and greenhouses are airtight and ready to go for the cooler nights. Daytime temperatures can become very hot in these locations, so be sure to open and close windows as needed. Consider investing in a self-opening elbow for your windows. They can save many trips back and forth throughout this fickle weather.
• Leaves will begin to fall soon. Make sure your compost bins or piles are ready to accept fresh materials.
• Give one last inspection to your windows and doors in case you didn’t get to them last month. Be sure that they’re air tight and sealed before cold weather really sets in.
• Change air filters on furnace.

Garden

• Herbs can be cut and dried for saving. Remember to bring some in to create a window garden for a fresh Winter source of Summer’s flavors.
• Seed saving and dead-heading can begin once again. Remember to allow some of your perennial seeds to self-sow by leaving only a few “dead heads” or by sprinkling some seed. Save some seed for finches (they adore Echinacea) and other seed lovers. Too many dead heads can lead to disease.
• Don’t prune rose hips yet if you plan on saving them for jellies or medicinal purposes.
• Bring in your more sensitive plants as the nights get cooler. Stevia, ginger, and other tropicals don’t like colder weather. Many other herbs can stay outside until the first frosts.
• It’s a good time to take cuttings of woody plants and shrubs.
• If you’re planning on dividing or planting bulbs for next year now is the time to do it! Also divide shrubby herbs like lemon balm, oregano, mints, sage, fennel, tansy, and marjoram.
• Harvest frost-sensitive plants and Winter keepers before your first frosts. Put green tomatoes in paper bags to ripen slowly and use later. Potatoes, onions, and other keepers should be kept in a cool dark place.
• Cut back dying foliage. Burn diseased foliage as soon as possible. Healthy plants can be put into compost as long as they are seed-free. As fun as it is to have a surprise potato plant sprout from the compost bin, you don’t want those plants (or weeds) to use up all that energy you’ve been saving for your garden!
• Green manures for cool seasons can be sown.
• Strawberry runners should be rooted and transplanted by the end of the month.
• Shrubs and trees, fruiting or not, can be planted now that the cool weather is setting in. Fall is an excellent time for transplants since most trees are storing or spending energy in and on their root systems.
• Speaking of fruiting trees and plants, remove mulch and prune those that need it.

Animals

• Put in your orders for Winter supplies of food, straw, and hay.
• Give a good cleaning to coops and barns to try to avoid housing mice and other small, unwanted critters.
• September and October are good months for building. If you’re planning on adding to the animal family next year, consider any outdoor units that may need to be added.
• Repair coops, lean-tos, stables, and other shelters before cold weather sets in. Keep your animals happy and warm at night.
• Start considering mating sheep and goats for Spring kids and lambs. They’re both on about a 150 gestation cycle so a late month conception would lead to a late February birth.
• With birth also comes death. Start planning for cold weather slaughters. Animals are best harvested when the weather is below 40 degrees. The cooler the better, especially if you’re inexperienced or have a lot of work to do. Research your product and begin gathering needed items. Mise en place. Have stock pots, seasonings, casings, sharpening stones, recipes, packaging, and tools all ready prior to harvesting.

Wildlife

• Continue to feed your hummingbirds and other songbirds. Migrations will begin this month and you may have a few unusual visitors to your feeders.
• Like us humans, wild critters are beginning to stock away for the colder seasons. Allow seed heads to remain on natives and refrain from too much tidying up of acorns and other nuts, seeds, and berries. Skunks, squirrels, rabbits, birds, and other small animals need to fatten up to keep warm through the Winter.

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Winemaking and Jam: Elderberry

Now that blackberries are done for most of us, Elderberries are the next wild fruit in season. I can’t just sit by and watch good food go to waste, so of course I must climb through the remaining rose and blackberry brambles to reach the tiny purple fruits of the Elderberry. Poke berries are also starting to ripen so be sure to avoid those!! Know how to identify your berries before consuming. Poke is poisonous!

Elderberries should be picked and consumed with some knowledge as well:

According to Wikipedia, 

“The leaves, twigs, branches, seeds and roots contain a cyanide producing glycoside. Ingesting any of these parts in sufficient quantity can cause a toxic build up of cyanide in the body. In addition, the unripened berry, flowers and “umbels” contain a toxic alkaloid.

Due to the possibility of cyanide poisoning, children should be discouraged from making whistles, slingshots or other toys from elderberry wood. In addition, “herbal teas” made with elderberry leaves (which contain cyanide inducing glycosides) should be treated with high caution. However, ripe berries (pulp and skin) are safe to eat.^“

If you’re fortunate enough to have access to this wonderful plant, I suggest taking the time to prepare one of these tasty recipes. The sweetened berries taste a bit like a cross between a cherry and a blackberry. Who could go wrong with that?!

 

Elderberry Wine

3 lbs fresh, ripe elderberries

1-1/2 lbs sugar

4 quarts water

1 Tbsp yeast

Campden tablets (optional, but highly recommended)

1 tsp citric acid (optional)

1/2 lb sugar

1. Wash berries and pick out any green fruit and stems. This can take quite a while for 3 pounds worth of fruit. I suggest pouring the berries onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper (for contrast) to make the job easier.
2. Sterilize all equipment with boiling water. If you purchased campden tablets you can crush one per gallon of water to ensure sterilization.
3. Boil water and  1-1/2 lb sugar until well dissolved. Pour into elderberries and allow to rest for 5 minutes.
4. Put elderberries into a food mill to release juices. Return berry skins to liquid. Alternatively, wear rubber gloves and smoosh with hands.
5. Add crushed Campden Tablet and citric acid then allow to rest for 24 hours.
6. The next day, add yeast to your soon-to-be wine and mix well. Top off your carboy or watercube with an airlock and allow the juices to do their work over the next 2 weeks.
7. After 2 weeks, strain berry pulp from fermenting liquid using a cheesecloth or fine mesh sieve. Make sure you use sterilized equipment! Add final 1/2 pound sugar and close your container with an airlock or balloon.
8. Allow to rest 10 days.
9. Ten days later, use your original bucket (cleaned and sterilized) and tubing to siphon the fermenting liquid from the sediment. Place your bucket on the floor and your carboy/watercube/jug on a table or counter. Insert one end of tubing into the wine and suck just a bit to get the siphon action going.
10. While the siphoned liquid is resting in the bucket, clean your carboy/cube/jug and re-sterilize along with your tubing.
11. Siphon the liquid again – back into the cleaned carboy/cube/jug .
12. Close container with airlock or balloon as before.
13. Let rest for 3 months or longer so that the yeast can work its magic. Once the mixture stops bubbling (if you’re using an airlock) or the balloon deflates the wine is ready to be siphoned into your sterilized bottles and corked.
14. Allow to age an additional 3 months minimum (9 months to one year is best) before drinking.

Country Wine: Equipment and Ingredients

It is possible to make wine with minimum equipment and purchases. The bare necessities (in my humble experience) that you’ll want include:

• Food-grade bucket, preferably 5-gallon. Check with a local bakery or deli.
• A large strainer or sieve plus some cheesecloth.
• About 4-5 feet of food-grade tubing. Look in the plumbing section of a hardware store.
• Gallon-sized glass carboys or 5-gallon collapsible water cubes. Carboys can be saved from juice purchases. The water cubes are fantastic for making odd-sized batches of wine and can be found at camping supply stores.
• Balloons and cotton balls, or  airlocks.
• Yeast. You can use regular baking yeast, but if you want a better flavor you can opt for different “wine” strains of yeast found at winemaking/brewing stores. I’ve used Montrachet as it’s recommended to balance the flavors of berry wines.
• Bottles and Corks. I save all my bottles from other purchases like wine, vinegar, juice, and so on. I purchased “mushroom” corks since they don’t require a tool to insert them into the bottles.

Optional:

• Campden tablets to sterilize equipment, remove stray yeast and bacteria (highly recommended unless you have problems with sulfites).
• Tannin, citric acid, or Earle Grey tea for flavor balance in sweeter wines.
• Extra sugar or wine conditioner to sweeten and brighten finished wine.
• Pectic acid for removing extra pectin and “clarify” wine.
• Yeast nutrient to feed yeast. Recipes without nutrient require extra sugar.

You can purchase all of these items from a wine and beer making supplier or spend a little more energy and locate many things locally. I purchased my airlock, water cube, yeast, campden tablets, and corks from E.C. Kraus. for less than $50. The rest I found locally or did without.

 

Elderberry Jam

from the Ball Blue Book, yield about 3 pints

• 2 quarts crushed elderberries (ripe berries, stemmed)
• 6 C sugar
• 1/4 C vinegar

1. Combine berries, sugar and vinegar. Bring slowly to boiling, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves.
2. Cook rapidly until thick. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking.
3. Pour, boiling hot, into sterilized jars. Adjust caps.

Yield: about 3 pints.

I hope you get the opportunity to sample some elderberries in one form or another this year! The purple stains are worth it!!

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Neighborhood ‘Weed’ Wars, the Manicured Lawn Invasion

We live on 10 acres, mostly pasture with a small stand of evergreens and lined at the edges with wild blackberries.  Our property is a perfect square, with our house smack dab in the middle.  To the north of our farm is a small family run dairy farm.  To the south is my mom’s acrage  To the east is another 10 acre farm that raises beef and sheep.  To the west…well to the west used to be over 50 acres of just open space with a creek and an old dilapidated saw mill.

Now it is a housing development with homes on lots from 1 to 2 acres.   On our Western flank we have 3 neighbors.  It is the #3 neighbor that I will be speaking about today.

As I was driving home the other day I noticed that the blackberries along the fence line bordering #3 neighbor were turning yellow.  I stopped the car and got out to take a look.  As I got nearer it became obvious they had been sprayed with some sort of herbicide (all of our roadways around our town are sprayed the same way so I knew immediately how it looks)

I got back into my car grumbling about the nerve of someone to spray the blackberries on my property.

The next day and the day after that I visited #3 to speak to her about spraying on property that wasn’t her’s.  She was never home.

Meanwhile I have called the county to find out the rules about this.  They were clear that no one had the legal right to spray on another’s property, even if it was blackberries (which if you lived in Western Washington you realize that they are considered a nuisance plant.)

Anyway on the 3rd try I stopped by her daughter’s house at the beginning of the housing developement and was going to leave a message to have her mom call me.

Of course the daughter was concerned about what I was wanting to contact her mom about (I would be to if a neighbor wanted to talk to my mom who lives on her own)

So I proceeded in the nicest way possible to tell her daughter that I was concerned that her mom was spraying my blackberries.  I explained that not only did my kids pick and eat the blackberries all over our property but we also were beekeepers and that these berry bushes were an outstanding source of pollen for them.

I was clear that there no legal standing to do this.

The daughter although polite kept asking me “you mean you want blackberries?”

I explained to her about making jam and gardening organically and feeding bees.

She told me how she and her husband had spent months and months clearing their 2 acres of the native ‘weeds’ so they could put in their expansive lawn and borders.  She certainly didn’t want my blackberries infesting her mother’s equally manicured lawn and she didn’t blame her mom from spraying.  She frankly thought I had a screw loose…

It finally boiled down to yes I want those blackberries and they are on my property and could she please tell her mother to call me when she returned from vacation so I could speak to her.

Why do people want to move to the country and then clear out all vestiges of said country and plant lawns that look just like those in town?

Why would someone think that just because they want to keep their perfect lawns that it could possibly ok to use killer spray on someone else’s ‘weeds’?

Have we come so far from our roots that the manicured lawn is now the norm and I’m the oddball?

Kim can also be found at the inadvertent farmer where she raises organic fruits, veggies, critters, kids, and…a camel!

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Winemaking: Dandelion

If you’re like me, you enjoy seeing the happy yellow flowers of dandelions blooming in your yard. They bring back memories of childhood games, of rubbing pollen on my chin and nose. I’ve also come to adore dandelion greens in my salad and still believe that wishes will come true when dandelion seeds float through the air.

Perhaps one of those wishes was to give me more dandelion blossoms – if so, it definitely came true this year!

Next year when spring is closing in but when winter still has us in it’s grasp, I’ll be enjoying a glass of spring to get me through those last chilly days. Here is the recipe I’m using this year. Several online friends shared their recipes and I picked out some of my favorite bits, making my own conglomeration. I froze my dandelion heads, keeping them in the freezer until I had accumulated enough to make a large batch of wine.

Dandelion Wine

• 3 cups packed dandelion flower petals – remove as much green as possible.
• 1 medium club ginger, sliced
• 1-1/2 cup sugar
• 6 cups boiled, chlorine-free water
• juice and zest of two oranges
• juice and zest of one lemon
• 1/2 t. yeast
• campden tablets

1. Sterilize all equipment with boiling water. If you purchased campden tablets you can crush one per gallon of water to ensure sterilization.
2. Pour boiling water and campden tablet (optional) over flower petals, sugar, and ginger slices.
3. Allow to cool to room temperature then add citrus juices and zest as well as yeast.
4. Let steep 8 hours or overnight.
5. Strain solids from liquid with strainer or cheesecloth, then siphon into clean, sterilized carboy, watercube, or bottle. Close container with airlock or cotton stuffed balloon.
6. Allow to ferment for about 1-2 months. When fermentation stops (the wine will stop bubbling if using an airlock, or the balloon will collapse), sample the wine to sweeten if necessary. Siphon wine into two sterile 750ml bottles and cork.
7. Let the wine age for another 3 months before drinking, although it should be better if it ages at least another 6 months.

Here are some recommended equipment and guidelines for brewing wine at home. Also, be sure to reference the other wine recipes I’ve shared: blackberry and plum.

Country Wine: Equipment and Ingredients

It is possible to make wine with minimum equipment and purchases. The bare necessities (in my humble experience) that you’ll want include:

• Food-grade bucket, preferably 5-gallon. Check with a local bakery or deli.
• A large strainer or sieve plus some cheesecloth.
• About 4-5 feet of food-grade tubing. Look in the plumbing section of a hardware store.
• Gallon-sized glass carboys or 5-gallon collapsible water cubes. Carboys can be saved from juice purchases. The water cubes are fantastic for making odd-sized batches of wine and can be found at camping supply stores.
• Balloons and cotton balls, or  airlocks.
• Yeast. You can use regular baking yeast, but if you want a better flavor you can opt for different “wine” strains of yeast found at winemaking/brewing stores. I’ve used Montrachet as it’s recommended to balance the flavors of berry wines.
• Bottles and Corks. I save all my bottles from other purchases like wine, vinegar, juice, and so on. I purchased “mushroom” corks since they don’t require a tool to insert them into the bottles.

Optional:

• Campden tablets to sterilize equipment, remove stray yeast and bacteria (highly recommended unless you have problems with sulfites).
• Tannin, citric acid, or Earle Grey tea for flavor balance in sweeter wines.
• Extra sugar or wine conditioner to sweeten and brighten finished wine.
• Pectic acid for removing extra pectin and “clarify” wine.
• Yeast nutrient to feed yeast. Recipes without nutrient require extra sugar.

You can purchase all of these items from a wine and beer making supplier or spend a little more energy and locate many things locally. I purchased my airlock, water cube, yeast, campden tablets, and corks from E.C. Kraus. for less than $50. The rest I found locally or did without.

*****

Do you brew anything at home?

You can also find Jennifer at Unearthing This Life trying to take each day as it comes.

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Winemaking: Plum

When we moved into our house on 4th of July four years ago we had three cultivated plum trees and two peach. That first spring living there we had a late winter freeze followed that summer with a severe drought. Our trees were badly damaged and we actually lost one of the peach trees. The next spring a late frost hit the blossoms. The third summer brought us no peaches, but tons of plums – all spoiled with worms. Which brings us to this year. We had the perfect spring, thousands of blossoms, lots of fruit … until the Japanese beetles created lace out of the leaves, stressing the trees so that they dropped every single fruit.

Fortunately we have many wild plums of the Chickasaw variety. The fruits are small, about the size of a grape with an almond-sized seed inside. They’re ripe when they start turning orange, and they have a sweet and pungent flavor. Even our dog would get excited when we’d start harvesting because he’d pick up the fruits we’d drop on the ground! The small plums aren’t much for more than snacking on, but they should make a tasty summer wine.

Even if you don’t have access to wild plums, you can use a cultivated variety for wine making. You may find, however, that you’ll want to add some citric acid to balance the flavors out a bit since cultivated plums aren’t quite as tart.

Country Wine: Equipment and Ingredients

It is possible to make wine with minimum equipment and purchases. The bare necessities (in my humble experience) that you’ll want include:

• Food-grade bucket, preferably 5-gallon. Check with a local bakery or deli.
• A large strainer or sieve plus some cheesecloth.
• About 4-5 feet of food-grade tubing. Look in the plumbing section of a hardware store.
• Gallon-sized glass carboys or 5-gallon collapsible water cubes. Carboys can be saved from juice purchases. The water cubes are fantastic for making odd-sized batches of wine and can be found at camping supply stores.
• Balloons and cotton balls, or  airlocks.
• Yeast. You can use regular baking yeast, but if you want a better flavor you can opt for different “wine” strains of yeast found at winemaking/brewing stores. I’ve used Montrachet as it’s recommended to balance the flavors of berry wines.
• Bottles and Corks. I save all my bottles from other purchases like wine, vinegar, juice, and so on. I purchased “mushroom” corks since they don’t require a tool to insert them into the bottles.

Optional:

• Campden tablets to sterilize equipment, remove stray yeast and bacteria (highly recommended unless you have problems with sulfites).
• Tannin, citric acid, or Earl Grey tea for flavor balance in sweeter wines.
• Extra sugar or wine conditioner to sweeten and brighten finished wine.
• Pectic acid for removing extra pectin and “clarify” wine.
• Yeast nutrient to feed yeast. Recipes without nutrient require extra sugar.

You can purchase all of these items from a wine and beer making supplier or spend a little more energy and locate many things locally. I purchased my airlock, water cube, yeast, campden tablets, and corks from E.C. Kraus. for less than $50. The rest I found locally or did without.

Plum Wine:

• 3-1/2 lb ripe plums
• Campden tablets
• 1 tsp citric acid – not necessary with wild plums
• 4lb granulated pure cane sugar
• 3 quarts distilled, or boiled chlorine-free water
• 1 package yeast
• 1 quart distilled, or boiled chlorine-free water

1. Sterilize all equipment with boiling water and Campden tablets.
2. Wash plums. Remove any spoiled spots or fruit.
3. Smash fruit with hands, food mill, or potato masher. Be sure to keep skins in the mixture – they’ll add a bit of body to the final product.
   Add 3 quarts water and one Campden tablet and mix. Cover loosely with a lid or cheesecloth.
4. Allow to rest in a warm, dark room for ten days.
   At the end of ten days skim any residue off the top. Remove fruit with a slotted spoon or spider, draining well. With a cheesecloth, strain and squeeze liquid into a sterile carboy/watercube.
   Dissolve sugar in 1 quart boiling water. Once it is cool add to fruit with yeast and citric acid.
5. Close container with airlock or a balloon stuffed with cotton ball.
6. Cover and stir daily for three days.
7. use your original bucket (cleaned and sterilized) and tubing to siphon the fermenting liquid from the sediment. Place your bucket on the floor and your carboy/watercube/jug on a table or counter. Insert one end of tubing into the wine and suck just a bit to get the siphon action going.
8. While the siphoned liquid is resting in the bucket, clean your carboy/cube/jug and re-sterilize along with your tubing.
9. Siphon the liquid again – back into the cleaned carboy/cube/jug
10. Close container with airlock or balloon as before.
11. Let rest for 3 months or longer so that the yeast can work its magic. Once the mixture stops bubbling (if you’re using an airlock) or the balloon deflates the wine is ready to be siphoned into your sterilized bottles and corked.
12. Allow the wine to rest for at least another 3 months before sampling, but it will taste better if you let it age longer.

Come back next week when I share some dandelion wine recipe I’ll be using for brewing. Visit my previous post for information on making blackberry wine.

You can find Jennifer over at Unearthing This Life where she blargs about life in rural Tennessee while waxing poetic (or whining miserably) about growing up in suburbia south of Chicago.

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Winemaking: Blackberry

If you’ve read some of my previous posts you’ve probably gathered that I enjoy a glass of wine every now and then (read: “now” as 4:30 and “then” as 5:00 pm). I really can’t think of a much better way to keep my wine guzzling sipping experience as local as possible other than making it myself. Sure, we have several good vineyards and wineries in our region and I love to purchase from them when possible. Keep in mind, though, that many wineries import some of their fruit to blend with their local selections.

Homemade berry wines are often referred to as “country wine.” I began brewing my own wine last year as an experiment. I had so many blackberries that I couldn’t give them away. I had jars and jars of jam that were given freely as gifts. I think my poor mail delivery gal was bursting with my jam. I have perfected several types of cobbler (which the mere thought of still makes me quiver from having eaten so much). My hands and arms are permanently scarred from last year’s harvest simply because we were so plentiful! So being a wine lover I couldn’t think of a better way of using up my bounty than to experiment with wine. I will admit that I am barely practiced on this subject, but I thought I’d share my learnings and experiences thus far in hopes of building upon all of our practices. Please feel free to comment and make suggestions!

Country Wine: Equipment and Ingredients

It is possible to make wine with minimum equipment and purchases. The bare necessities (in my humble experience) that you’ll want include:

• Food-grade bucket, preferably 5-gallon. Check with a local bakery or deli.
• A large strainer or sieve plus some cheesecloth.
• About 4-5 feet of food-grade tubing. Look in the plumbing section of a hardware store.
• Gallon-sized glass carboys or 5-gallon collapsible water cubes. Carboys can be saved from juice purchases. The water cubes are fantastic for making odd-sized batches of wine and can be found at camping supply stores.
• Balloons and cotton balls, or  airlocks.
• Yeast. You can use regular baking yeast, but if you want a better flavor you can opt for different “wine” strains of yeast found at winemaking/brewing stores. I’ve used Montrachet as it’s recommended to balance the flavors of berry wines.
• Bottles and Corks. I save all my bottles from other purchases like wine, vinegar, juice, and so on. I purchased “mushroom” corks since they don’t require a tool to insert them into the bottles.

Optional:

• Campden tablets to sterilize equipment, remove stray yeast and bacteria (highly recommended unless you have problems with sulfites).
• Tannin, citric acid, or Earle Grey tea for flavor balance in sweeter wines.
• Extra sugar or wine conditioner to sweeten and brighten finished wine.
• Pectic acid for removing extra pectin and “clarify” wine.
• Yeast nutrient to feed yeast. Recipes without nutrient require extra sugar.

You can purchase all of these items from a wine and beer making supplier or spend a little more energy and locate many things locally. I purchased my airlock, water cube, yeast, campden tablets, and corks from E.C. Kraus. for less than $50. The rest I found locally or did without.

One note about sugar – many of us prefer to use honey or raw sugars in our every day cooking in order to stay away from processed foods and HFCS. I have read that professional beverage makers use white sugar because the sweetness levels are more predictable to work with. I honestly don’t know if there’s any truth behind this or if it’s a matter of expense. For my recipes I’ve used granulated cane sugar. As I get into more honey I will be trying a few batches made with honey in place of sugar.

Blackberry Wine (1 gallon):

• 4.5 lb fresh berries
• 4 cups distilled or boiled, chlorine-free water
• Campden tablets (optional)
• 1-3/4 cups granulated cane sugar
• 6 cups distilled or boiled, chlorine-free water
• 1 packet yeast
• 1-3/4 cups granulated cane sugar
• 2 cups distilled or boiled, chlorine-free water
• 1-1/2 cups granulated cane sugar
• 2 cups distilled or boiled, chlorine-free water

1. Sterilize all equipment with boiling water. If you purchased campden tablets you can crush one per gallon of water to ensure sterilization.
2. Wash berries and pick out any spoiling fruit before crushing in your bucket. Using bare hands is tons of fun, but you can use a food mill if you prefer to keep your nails stain-free. Be sure to add the pulp back into the juice if you are using a mill.
3. Add one quart of water – cooled – and an optional campden tablet. Wait 24 hours.
4. Boil 6 cups water and 1-3/4 cups sugar together for 1 minute. Allow to cool to room temperature.
5. Activate yeast in small amount of warm water.
6. Add cooled sugar-water and yeast to fruit mixture.
7. Cover and let rest one week.
8. One week later, strain fruit from mixture with cheesecloth and sieve being sure to get every ounce of juice from the berries. Put liquid in clean and sterilized carboy or water cube.
9. Boil 2 cups of water with another 1-3/4 cups sugar for one minute. Allow to cool to room temperature before mixing into fruit liquid.
10. Close container with airlock or a balloon stuffed with cotton ball.
11. Allow to rest 10 days.
12. Ten days later, use your original bucket (cleaned and sterilized) and tubing to siphon the fermenting liquid from the sediment. Place your bucket on the floor and your carboy/watercube/jug on a table or counter. Insert one end of tubing into the wine and suck just a bit to get the siphon action going.
13. While the siphoned liquid is resting in the bucket, clean your carboy/cube/jug and re-sterilize along with your tubing.
14. Boil 2 cups water and 1-1/2 cups sugar for one minute and allow to cool to room temperature.
15. Siphon the liquid again – back into the cleaned carboy/cube/jug and mix in the last of the sugar-water.
16. Close container with airlock or balloon as before.
17. Let rest for 3 months or longer so that the yeast can work its magic. Once the mixture stops bubbling (if you’re using an airlock) or the balloon deflates the wine is ready to be siphoned into your sterilized bottles and corked.

I highly recommend waiting at least 6 months from the original date before drinking your wine. This makes a fabulous gift for the holidays. We celebrated New Year’s Eve with all of our friends across the country by opening the wine at midnight. This year I believe I’ll add a bit of conditioner or glycerine to add some extra sweetness to the finished wine since my batch was dry.

I’m already anticipating New Year’s Eve this year. Winemaking definitely gives me a local, homemade something to look forward to during the bleak, chilly months of winter. Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting a few more winemaking recipes including wild plum and dandelion.

What are your favorite Country Wines?

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