Basic Wine Making ~ So fine Homeade Wine by MM

A couple years ago Kim and I attended a basic wine making class at the Common Ground Fair.  A large, bearded gentleman in a jean jacket stood before the crowd with a five gallon bucket in hand and said, “I’m going to keep this real simple!”  Since then we have had a great deal of fun with the skills learned that day.  We give wine for gifts, bring it to holiday gatherings, bbqs, and parties.

We’ve also utilized wine for bartering as well.  Exchanging for goods as well as pay back for good deeds done.  Plus it’s just plain old satisfying to sit down and enjoy an ice cold glass of relaxation that you created yourself.

To get started you’ll need an air tight container with an air lock.   We use a multitude of different containers including 5 gallon buckets, jugs, jars, and carbouy’s.  The air lock is just a water chamber that keeps air from entering the wine and lets the gasses out.  Clean all containers including bottles with bleach and water.  Rinse well!!




We have made a great deal of apple, strawberry, and blueberry wine as well as a multitude of other fruity flavors, too many to mention.  I start by soaking roughly 1.5 gals of fruit in roughly 3 to 4 gals of water, mash it a bit and let it set in a cool place a couple of days to absorb the flavor. A refrigerator is the best bet or set it outside if it’s cool enough.  Basically your making a fruit infused water.   Next I strain off the fruit and add 10lbs of sugar and 1  tablespoon of yeast to the juice or fruit water.  Sometimes I use bread yeast and sometimes I use  a packet of wine yeast.  Both work fine however the wine yeast is a bit more user friendly.  It forms a hard layer when it drops out of suspension.   If you start with a fruit juice make sure it does not contain preservatives, which could stop the yeast from working.  This recipe will not work with grapes so don’t try it, just trust me on that!!


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We’ve also fermented tea and lemonade adding a bit of ginger which was a big hit with the ladies.  I’ll do a post on that at another time.

70 degrees is the preferred temperature for fermentation to occur so find an area in your home that is closest to that if possible.  It is not an exact science so don’t overthink it, we don’t and we are able to pull it off.  We live in an old farmhouse and the temperatures can vary room to room by 20 degrees in the winter.  The beauty and curse of wood heat.

The magic begins in 2 days.  The yeast grow and consume the sugar creating a byproduct of alcohol and CO2.  Place the container out of direct sunlight and it will make a wonderful bubbling noise until the sugar is gone or the alcohol content is too high for the yeast to survive.  They die and fall to the bottom in roughly 8 weeks give or take a few weeks.
Lastly, siphon it into sterilized wine bottles or mason jars.  Pour over ice & enjoy!

 

BBQ at my in-laws....day 8 of 30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kennebec Organics Soil review

Recently Kennebec Organics supplied me with a sample of their NEW potting soil/seed starter for an Achorn Farm review. It was amazingly light and fluffy with a rich mahogany color. It looked good enough to eat. Not really but you get the picture.

For years I've used the commercially available over the counter Pro Mix. I figured if it was good enough for the professional gardener it should certainly should work for us.

With this in mind I set out on a head to head comparison between the big box stores and a new local business.

My initial expectation was that I would find a 10- 20% measurable difference between the two soils. However, to my surprise the results were far greater then I expected. The Kennebec Organic soil on the LEFT grew twice the size of the Promix which is on the right. I will be interested to see if this equates to twice the yield at harvest time. But more important than the numbers, healthy vigorous plants produce more nutritionally dense food which is one of the main reasons we garden.

These bell peppers were grown side by side using the same seed tray, water, and light exposure. I know which seed starter we will be using from now on.
Remember... plant SMARTER not HARDER with Kennebec Organics!

Currently this product is available at Visions on KMD in Oakland, ME (465-8200)

~Maine Man

Making Treats for our Feathered Friends

Last year for the first time I made some tasty treats for the birds. I posted recipes here.

The other night my girl & I made some without following a recipe.

*We cooked up some pig fat in the oven in my cast iron kettle, the remaining was liquid fat and crackles, I believe that is what they are called. (little pieces of fat)

*Threw the crackles in the processor.*Dug deep into my fridge to find the bacon grease and such I had been saving for the last year or so, against Maine Man's will. Melted it down. He's a bit of a throw away kinda guy and I am a save it kinda gal. I just know I will find a use for it someday! Hence why I do the recycling, as painful as it can be.

*Threw in some bird seed, a bit of cracked corn, a few tablespoons of peanut butter. Mixed it all together and dished it out into pans and plastic containers of all sizes.

I was wishing I had saved a bunch of those plastic containers you get when you buy suet blocks in the store. I only had 1 and it was perfect for this project. Maybe I will put something on Facebook and see if my bird feeding friends will save some for me.

*Set the containers in the barn overnight

*Perfectly hardened! Popped the suet blocks out of the containers. Placed one outside for the birds and the rest in the freezer.

Little Messy but FUN!

Winter Wonderland

It has been a long winter but the end is near....at least I'd like to think so. Yesterday planting season began. Maine Man started onions.
This is the first winter since living here that our heat source was 100% wood.
The last couple years we ran our furnace a bit. Not much, about 100 gallons in 09' and last year we probably used about 75 gallons of oil. It is a lot of work but well worth it! I am thankful for MM who endlessly works to keep us well stocked with firewood.

It will be nice to see the kids swimming in the pool once again.

My farmer friend made this well house for me last fall. Something I will forever cherish!

Trail out to the back forty. MM takes the kids out on the sled behind the snowmobile and this is the path he takes to gather firewood. I usually go out too but this winter I have been limited to what I can do until things get straightened around with my neck. Hoping that will be soon.

Really missing hanging clothes on the line. I have a few inside racks but they do not seem to hold a lot of laundry like this line.

MM will be putting a wood stove in this soon. Planting will follow.

For now we will dream of what Spring brings and hurry to get inside projects complete.

So we can enjoy our days more outdoors then in.

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.

~Edith Sitwell

Birds of a Feather Flock Together ~ day 16

Maine Man has his Ducks in a Row! ;)

Ha.....the morning after MM processed all the drakes but 1 he found this sight in the barn.

All the Muscovies were high up on a beam out of reach from MM.

They wanted NO part of the Merry-Go-Round aka Chicken Plucker.

Couple FUN facts about MM's Chicken Plucker Post

• It is the #1 visited post of this blog
• Yesterday out of 339 visitors to this site 75 of them were checking out that post
• Since he posted that in Jun 09' it has been viewed 9,409 times

Impressive, huh? I give him the spotlight just twice and he steals the show.....lol. His other post that is quite popular is a how to skin a pig.

Stolen picture from a friend that I gave a duck too, too pretty not to post. MM processed 11 ducks, we gave 2 away and we've eaten 1 so far. We all enjoyed, I think it tastes similar to roast beef. Not something you'd eat every week but good for a change.

What Makes Me Tick ~day 13

A couple months back I was talking with one of the doctors at work who loves to cook. He said "I love to cook because food makes people happy and I like making people happy."

I couldn't have said it better. So true!

I thought about posting this tonight while I was making Flower Girl a batch of soup at 8pm for her lunch tomorrow. She wanted no part in bringing in a little can of Campbell's. I've created a monster ;) After the ROUGH week I've had what I really wanted to do was kick back but sometimes you just do things out of love.

In the end it always pays off. When I came up to bed she had a glass of ice water on my bedside table, and "I Love You" stick-it note on my computer, she had folded and put away the laundry that was on my bed, and a BIG thanks for making her soup.

And it also helps when Maine Man says things like.......

"I love that you love to cook. I love that you cook with the kids. And I love to eat the food you cook"

If he only knew I wrote down what he said to me way back on 12/31....I'm not to be trusted, lol. God I love that man!

Muscovies - day 2

When we first bought Muscovies the intention was for meat and eggs. As everything here on our small farm, it must serve a purpose. Well.....we came to liking them and they became a novelty around the farm. We occasionally sell some to a friend that takes them to market and bring others to auction. Maine Man just really hates killing them and our freezers have been well stocked. We have only eaten one and honestly it was the best duck we've ever had! One word to describe what they taste like is roast beef. Any how we are couple months into winter here and we have too darn many of them! In the summer even if we have a bunch they are mostly at the pond but this time of year they are in the barn and the door yard. A little too much poo for my liking. Yesterday when I pulled in the yard between the ducks & the chickens I thought for sure I was at a freakin zoo. So today MM is doing the deed along with his 8 year old daughter as I hide inside doing chores and preparing lunch. Not a good day to be a duck on the farm.

Digless Potatoes

8.5 bushels this season! If I calculated correctly that is approximately 425lbs. We planted a few different types, even purple potatoes. I made french fries out of them the other day, the kids LOVED them! Maine Man used a different planting method this year. Instead of burying the spuds he applied a heavy layer of moist mulch on top and the potatoes grew up through. The mulch hay was recycled from the 40 something bales that served as insulation for our foundation of our old farmhouse this past winter. MM was pleased with his "digless potatoes" and plans to use this method again next year.


On a completely different note I have a question for my fellow bloggers. Have any of you ever used google AdSense on your blog or any other advertisement? Would love to hear others input on this!

Newest Additions

HELP....... Need some names folks! (1 male, 1 female)

If you have been a long time reader you know we've had some naughty pigs named Obama & McCain who are looooong gone.

We also had pigs called Ham & Pumpkin. Ham delivered the first piggies here on the farm last summer. (hot looking picture of Maine Man on that link too)

We raised 2 of her piglets, one for our family and one for a friend. They were called Barbie & Q. Barbie went to market a while back but Q just went last week with a hanging weight of 340 lbs. As it has been SUPER warm here in Maine as of lately MM did not want to attempt processing the meat. He has processed the last few pigs and even posted about it here. Instead we gave half to a friend and they paid the processing fees, we both made out!

That pig processing post of MM's is the 2nd most visited post on this blog. You know what that #1 most visited post on this blog? MM's "how to build a chicken plucker ".

That man writes 2 posts in 3 years and I post weekly. Something is wrong with this picture ;)

Upcoming posts (of his) will too be popular if he ever gets a chance to make a wind turbine which he has talked of and/or build a hot water solar tank. If anyone can do it, he CAN!

K, folks I'm counting on you here. My friend that owns one of these piggies wants to name them H1 & N1 but I just can't do it.

Suggestions?

What's growing outside the Hoop House?

Our first head of broccoli

Lots of lettuce

Mint, can't kill that stuff! Curious as to how others use mint. We use ours in lemonade and that is about it. This is my 3rd year growing herbs. I think they are much easier to grow then veggies, thank god for Maine Man cause we'd be starving ;) but in good flavor.

MM put in an asparagus bed last year. He added to it this year. I cannot wait to harvest that goodness in the next a year or two.

This picture was taken over a week ago. It is amazing how much the garden has grown since. I will post an updated aerial photo (from the barn loft) picture in a couple weeks to compare.
We have herbs, corn, and potatoes in that garden.

This is the pumpkin/gourd garden.

Just behind that is a strawberry patch.

I neglected to take a picture of MM's other garden but here are a few pictures of the goods grown there.

Turnip

Lots of garlic, we've already harvested a few bulbs.

Kale grows faster then I can it cook up. Honestly I think I still have some in the freezer from last year.

...and more lettuce. We eat from the gardens daily and fortunately have enough to share with our friends & family. I have froze a couple bags of peas and canned some rhubarb. My plan is to can salsa, spaghetti sauce, pickles, zucchini relish, and green beans. I'd like to put up more but I also want to enjoy the summer with the kids. Just need to keep that balance.

Honesty Policy

Since moving to the farm we have sold many of goodies by the roadside. We had a farm stand one summer followed by a pumpkin stand that fall. We have sold eggs in a cooler and the kids have sold crawlers a couple of Springs including this past. Some people come and go, others like to chit chat if we are outside. I like both kinds of people. The one thing they all have in common thus far is that MOST people truly are honest. It is nice to be able to leave a jar out and not have to tend the stand, it is nice to know that a good many people are honest. Maine Man is sold out of peppers but he has a few more tomato plants to sell. When I was in town the other day I saw single tomato plants selling for $3.99. We're not looking to make living, it is just nice to recoup some of money we have in seeds. Next year we will have more of a selection.

Greenhouse Update

April 12th we harvested our 1st bowl of lettuce. That's nearly 8 weeks ahead of our norm.
Maine Man has quite a few vegetables growing strong in the greenhouse. Mostly cold weather crops. He was feeling brave and planted his beloved tomatoes a week or so ago. He is been closely watching the weather forecast for nighttime low temperatures. A good many nights he has had to cover the tomatoes and a few nights we've had to run a propane heater.
By next year we will have a wood stove piped in.

Peas

Peppers he's yet to plant in the ground

We mixed some beet greens in our salad mix
Nothing like fresh greens sowed from seed just out your front door!

Garlic in the outside garden. Looking forward to July's harvest. Thankful I still have some from last season.