Peripatetic philomaths…focusing on what's really important, eating ethically and cleanly, fermenting, foraging/wildcrafting, practicing herbalism, and being responsible stewards of our land. Sharing our photos, musings, and learnings. Still seeking our tribe.
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!
Continue reading “Winecraft: Merry Mango”
Spring is in the air and in a few months, I’ll have the bounty of the land available to forage and create wildcrafted wines. Huzzah! Until then, though, there are delightful wines to be made from other ingredients, like chai tea.
Continue reading “Winecraft: Charming Spiced Chai”
Part of the fun of fermenting is being creative, and when you’re moving nascent wine to a secondary and you see this…well, it merits capture not only in a photo, but in verse. Art is everywhere, if you look for it.
It’s finally time to bottle and sample the much-anticipated (at least by me) Black Locust wine! Yes, the fragrant flowers are edible – in fact, I recently saw a post for fritters made from them that sounded delightful. Like tempura? But back to the wine…
Ever tried plum wine? While the flavor of some wines barely suggest their ingredients, plum is not one of them – good plum wine just tastes of juicy plums.
It’s that time of year again: daylilies are blooming. I see them in yards, along the road, and, best of all, growing in several spots on my own property. And those fiery orange blooms are just asking to become a unique country wine!
On hot May nights, an enchanting perfume wafts through the still air. What is this alluring fragrance? The sweet scent comes from the creamy blooms of the Black Locust tree. When an edible flower smells that lovely, it surely must make a sensational wine!
I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of spring and summer, when foraging finds will become unique and memorable wines. As I’ve waited, I’ve had to entertain myself by finding other kinds of wine to make…and you know I have!
Who doesn’t like “variations on a theme”? Especially when the themes are no food waste and wine?
Having cut a couple of perfectly ripe and (amazingly) undamaged pineapples up, it was time to start wine with the peels and cores…and some mango-passionfruit juice!
Continue reading “Winecraft: Pineapple Peel-Mango-Passionfruit”
A couple of months ago, I made a batch of pineapple peel wine and added a yeast slurry that just didn’t seem to take off. It had been refrigerated, slowing the activity. Sometimes, sluggish yeast never really takes off, so I grabbed a fresh container of slurry from the shelf and pitched it in. Then I realized that it wasn’t actually wine yeast…it was bread kvas yeast!