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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