Home Brewed Apple & Blackberry Wine

So.. Having successfully made rhubarb wine a few months back as can be seen here we decided to make some Apple and Blackberry wine. Here's how it went and how you can make your own.

Ingredients
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Apples : 7.8kg

Granulated Sugar : 7.8kg

Black berries : 7.8kg
Lemons: 3

Yeast : 2 sachets

Yeast Nutrient : 5 tsp

Pectolase
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Lesson 1: You may get funny looks when buying all the ingredients

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Process

-       Chop the apples and black berries (blending the apples releases more juice) and throw these into a tub along with the sugar, 27L of boiled water, lemon juice and sugar.

-       Once the mixture is cool add the Pectolase. This will "reduce the risk of pectin hazes and also increases the yield from the juice pulp".

-       After 24 hours add the yeast and yeast nutrient.

 

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Lesson 2: Fermentation can get messy. Catch back blow with a glass.

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-       Leave for 1 week before checking that fermentation is complete using the hydrometer from the wine making kit purchased here.

-       Once Fermentation is complete you will want to transfer the wine to its new tub to get out all the berries and apple. This can be fairly tricky and messy. You will want to set some time aside for doing this and you will need to squeeze the apples and berries to get all the juice goodness out of them!

-       Leave the mixture for a month before repeating the procedure again, remembering to filter the fine as it comes through. Repeat this until the colouring looks as you'd like and/or your patience runs out. 

-       Clean your bottles and sterilise before bottling.

-       Give to family and friends.

Building A Frog House - A Ribbiting tale

As autumn has moved towards us it is time to harvest the last allotment produce of the year and turnover the plot ready for a fresh year of growing. Whilst Louise and I were doing just this we decided to dig out the strawberry section we had, but in doing so - and so fervently - it ended with the heartbreaking murder of a little frog with my fork.

I found it all a bit sad so decided to giveback to the frog community by giving them somewhere they can live which is not between the vegetables.

I had a quick look online and it appears frogs like dark, damp places to hide over the winter. The obvious benefits being that they will eat the slugs and keep the population down. Having seen some examples I drew and showed Louise some options.

House 1: Plant Pot Vertical House 2: Wood Planks  House 3: Plant Pot Horizontal House 4: Stone, brick and logs

In the end I chose option 2 as we already had a bit of wood in the spare room. Some 2"x3" hardwood and plank like thin wood. I cut the wood into strips of 15cm. 4 of the 2x3 pieces per home and 3 plank pieces per home.

I then attached the 2"x3" pieces using a metal mending plate to hold them rigid together.

At the back, I screwed the plank piece at the back showing an even amount of space between top and bottom before tacking the remaining two pieces to the top. At this point it does not need to be even or smooth. Just roughly assembled.

 

At this point we could have left them as they were but Louise and I love a little competition so we decided to give them a paint and see whose was the best.

Louise's - Hop On Inn

 

Aiden's - Lily's Pad

Finally we put them out on the allotment with a hole at the centre and some dead leaves and grass for the frogs to hide in.

Now just to wait and see if we get any residents!