Wildcrafted: 2022’s Black Locust Flower Wine

That delighful fragrance wafting in the humid evening breeze is a telltale sign that flowers are blooming on the farm. When I smell that wonderful perfume, I take time to soak it in…and then I start making plans. Last year, I had planned to make Black Locust Flower wine, but missed the bloom. This year, we had a bumper crop of Black Locust blooms!

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Winecraft: Ruby Red Rose

Beautiful red roses grow amok here in an area that clearly hints at having once been a well-tended terraced garden. I choose to let the vegetation grow wild – and have been rewarded with sumac berries, peonies, lemon balm, yucca, and other delightful flora. The roses, as with many of the other flowers here, aren’t just pretty faces – they’re edible. And wouldn’t they make a lovely wine?

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Winecraft: Heavenly Honeysuckle…And Blotto Bees

They’re everywhere!

It was a hot and humid day. The honeysuckle perfumed the muggy air with its seductive fragrance. I ventured out, dressed from head to toe (for sun and tick protection), to harvest honeysuckle blooms, many of which seemed to be intertwined with brambles. Soon, my nitrile gloves were ripped to shreds – but, sometimes, sacrifices must be made in the pursuit of the land’s wild bounty.

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Winecraft: Merry Mango

Ah, the beauty of the mango: a plump orb that transitions from bright green to shades of orange, and when ripe, deep red. And this eye-catching fruit isn’t just pretty – it has an amazing, incredibly sweet, yet bright, flavor. With something that tastes this good right out of the peel, I just had to find out if that delightfulness would translate to wine!

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