A Busy Weekend

As well as bottling marathon I tackled the poo pile on Sunday. Steve called for me early on Sunday morning. When we got over to the pile we first loaded up his car and then my trailer. The first trailer load had a lot of fresh stuff so we spread that over the long border at the Lottie. Steve only had time to shift one load. I soldiered on and did a further two trips. We have managed to move all but the one trailer load. We will finish this off next Sunday and no doubt we will have a little alcoholic tincture for them by way of a thank you. It is a neat relationship. They need to get rid of the horse muck and we can use it. The jobs made easier because I have left my trailer with them so they can fill it as they need. It seems to work quite well so far.

I usually make a wreath for the front door. On Sunday afternoon I went on one of my wanders to see what the Leicestershire hedgerows could yield. H cried off. She had been out with her teacher buddies on Saturday night and was counting the cost....very quietly. L was still out at friends for the sleep over. Off I went. There was still an hour and a half of daylight left but the temperature was dropping. I was well wrapped. An old chap I knew said that there was no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes! For added atmosphere, if more atmosphere was needed in the frosted forest under a watercolour sky, I was listening to a multi-national carol concert on Radio 3 via my ipod. I was not trying to be quiet yet I still walk up within fifty yards of a group of young deer. For a change I spotted them first and stopped behind a tree in the hedge line. They must have got wind of me as after a few minutes they walked off. I continued down the hedge line and jumped into the dry ditch at the end plantation. The herd had walked down the other side of the ditch line to the end of field. They were doing that funny cantering gait, all four legs at once, that is more than walk but less than a run. At a certain point the herd found a gap in the hedge, one at time hopped through it and were gone.

I made my way back to the car via the holly bushes, fir trees and ivy covered trees I had passed on the outward journey. I had a bagful of cuttings and a handful of holes from the spikes on the Holly. When I got home L had pitched up. H was had the kettle on and was making tea [Evening meal as well as the hot beverage]. I cut a two long Willow whips from the hedge at the end of my garden. In the garage to wrestled all the components into a creditable wreath. H had a red ribbon to hand. It took longer to tie a nice bow than make the wreath. The wreath is on the front door if you want to see it.

Bottling the Summer

The time came this weekend to finally bottle the wine that has been brewing since September. I though a would wash a few bottles, do a few labels and cork a few bottles. I did a quick sum in my head. I get five full 75cl bottles from each demi-john. I have seven demi-john that 45 bottles...more than a few. I like clear glass for the "white" wines and green or brown for "red". I had a rummage in the bottle pile to find 15 clear bottles. Upon cleaning I found a couple of bottles where I could not get the smeg out of the very bottom of the bottle. Another rummage and I came up with clear bottles that would clean up. I went through the same exercise for the green bottles.

I don't buy bottles. I come by them via parties, wine we have bought and recycled one from previous years. I also try to get similar bottles for each batch. I also try to have the batch all screw caps or all corked. I just like it that way.

Each demi-john H and I have a look at the colours carefully put on the stool which has been placed on the dining room table. The bottles, corks or caps, labels, Hydrometer and measuring tube and note pad are set about the table. Off comes the airlock and bung, in goes the syphon tube, a big suck and the juices start flowing. During the draw off I fill the measuring tube for the hydrometer. I fill the remaining bottles. The specific gravity [SG] is recorded in my little book. I write out the labels which are small tags on strings. I record the source, Apple for instance, the date it was bottles and the SG. I top up any bottle that are short from the wine in the measuring tube. What is left after top goes in a glass for H and me to taste. But before tasting the caps or corks are fitted.

H and I have a look at the colour, have the sniff then a taste. Our only criteria is "do we like it". H likes dry wines and I don't. I like sweeter wine and H doesn't. In shades of Jack Sprat and his wife the wine rack has something for everyone. The process finishes with the demi-johns, airlocks and syphon being cleaned, sterilised and put away for next year. The bottled wine is taken to the shed and loaded on to the waiting shelves. The Beetroot and Elderberry feels like it is going to need some time the mellow out so they are put in the top left of the shelving where they will be out of the way. The more palatable wines comes next. They make up the middle portion of the shelves. I still have 15 bottles from last year so they take space on the right hand side of the shelves, near the door.

The surprise wine is the Pea Pod Burgundy. It has smelt really suspect all the way along. However on bottling it has come of age. It is clear as a bell and tastes really nice. It might be nicer still in the summer, if I keep my hands off it! The jury is still out on the Elderberry and the Beetroot wine. It is better than it was. It might just might need time. The apple wine is nice an light. One batch to drier than the other and of course I prefer one and H the other. The Blackberry is fruity, as you would expect, but not too sweet. This year I halved the amount of sugar in the recipes which has led to drier wines. I will report back if they have lost the alcoholic punch of previous years.

Next year, more Pea Pod and anther batch of Dandelion.

Ever the optimist!

H's buddies visiting, my parents visiting and foul weather have kept me away from the lottie for the past two weeks. I have taken waste from the house to the worms or the compost heap each weekend. Last weekend when I checked in on the worms they were almost swimming. I had to cut a hole in the bottom of the wormery to let out the water. I got about a gallon out. I bobbed the worm juice in to the adjacent water butt. This week has been very cold, several degrees of frost each night in fact. I hope the worms are up to the challenge.

The new arrangement with horse poo and trailer had its first test. The call came to say the trailer was full. I was busy over the weekend so popped over the collect the trailer on Monday tea time. It took about an hour and a bit to complete the round trip. Only one light bulb on the trailer needed changing so that was alright.

I found that a local carpet shop, near where I work, throws out the remnants at the back of the shop . A quick word and now I have free access to the offcuts. The offcuts will used to suppress the weeds on the lottie.

I went to see the Potato men on society business and came away having bought some new seed trays. In the weeks leading up to the winter solstice it away feels like the deepest, darkest part of the year and spring might never come. Since science tells us the world turns I don't think I will need to go to the trouble of a sacrifice [human or otherwise] to ensure the return of the sun. Ever the optimist I checked my seed collection again.

On the way back from Newall, through Church Gresley I spotted a banner for the Church Gresley and Weston on Trent Model Railway Engineers Society Christmas open day. I parked up and paid my two quid on the door and was let into a light and warm wonderland. A wonderland if you like massive "O", "OO" gauge train layouts. The society has been running since the early sixties. I spent over an hour browsing the sets. There were a few smaller sets in "N" gauge and a number a tram sets. The big "OO" gauge set had a couple of long trains running on the long up and down loops. A couple of chaps were running sidings and trams on the same layout. It was all very busy. The ladies of the Society had made truck fulls of mince pies, sandwiches and lashings of steaming tea. Tea at 40p and mug. What a bargain. The next open day is Easter weekend so make a note to go. It is a rare treat.

Lost Weekend

I won't be doing much on the lottie this weekend except feeding the worms. H has a bunch of her Manchester buddies coming for dinner on Saturday and stopping over. It will be nice to see them. It has been a while since their last visit. I have to run over to Newall to drop off my seed potato order on Saturday morning. I also have to drop some seeds to a lottie member and the Insurance receipt back to the Society's Treasurer and H wants me to make some Soda Bread. I might get it ready before I go out so it proves whilst I am running errands. It has also been lashing down this evening so the ground will be too wet to dig. At least I will not be wasting fair weather doing non-allotment things.

I got some freeware off the Internet to recover my data off the PC that crashed. I put the old hard drive in a spare PC, which was a complete pain. The mechanics of fitting the drive and hooking up the various leads was easy. It was the faffing about the jumpers to make the new hard drive be recognised as the the slave unit that tested my patience. The recovery software has been running for three hours and says it has seventeen to go! I won't stay up for that.

A Very Good Weekend

This weekend has been very productive. My PC broke down during the week so Lucy did not have Internet which a major catastrophe. However all was up and running by Saturday evening. Steve discovered a source of horse manure few weeks ago on Freecycle. We went round and introduced ourselves. The pile had been maturing all summer. There must be a good few cubic yards there. Steve had been down a few times since the initial meeting, filling bags for distribution round his various plots. I, being so much more lazy, considered how the manure could be moved in bulk. I resolved to convert my bike trailer into a muck trailer. I bought a couple of sheets of plywood and some varnish. Steve furnished a couple of lengths of "L" profile light gauge steel. I had a rummage in the screw box and found half a box of screws left over from a previous project. I spent a pleasant morning on Saturday cutting up plywood panels and screwing them together to make a box without a top. I went over to Massey's for some 10M Nuts, Coach bolts and Washers to bolt the new trailer box to the chassis. After a little pondering whilst stood in the hardware isle of Massey's I came up with solution to make the end panel of the trailer removable. Despite the intermittant showers and it going dark early I managed to get the trailer converted and varnished. I gave Steve call the same evening. We agreed to meet on early on Sunday morning for a visit to the poo pile.

The trailer always towed nicely but with the additional weight of the timber it no longer bounced over any slight ripple in the road surface. When we arrived at Colin & Angie's, we're on first name terms now, I pulled up next to the pile. Five minutes later Steve and I had filled the trailer. We were not being greedy. I was not sure my car would pull the trailer from a stand still given that we were on wet grass, my car is not a 4x4 and the trailer probably weighed a third of a ton. Steve filled up his multifarious bags. Colin came out with cup of Tea for each of us. Very welcome indeed on a cold, damp Winter's morning. I should have not worried. I got away without a problem. The trailer made an impact on the pile. Steve and I went our different ways resolving to meet again at my house about 12.30. My trailer of poo went straight on the front garden. That is a job that is finished for the time being. It is time for the worms to do their thing. In a couple a week I can turn the manure into the soil and plant the bulbs I have in the shed.

Steve was on Dad duty. My girl was still in bed when I got home. She is fifteen, that's what we do, she says! The local council have made an offer to supply anyone with a choice small Crab Apple, Rowan, and Hazel trees and native Bluebell bulbs. I went to collect my selections. It was a bit of a laugh because there were lots a people looking a bit disappointed. The "trees" where in fact second year seedling so were no more than a foot tall. Being the winter the "trees" were hibernating so the folks were heading back to their cars with either two thin twigs or a twig and a dozen bluebell bulbs. Bluebell bulbs are only the size of grapes so the freebies were never going to over load the cars. I am not sure what they were expecting.

We went back to C&A for a second load. Same again, me with a trailer full and Steve with his bags. This load went up to the lottie. When building the trailer box I found the chassis has a device that lets the trailer tip. We tried it out. It was rubbish. It did not tip very much. I took the trailer up to C&A. That is where is to live. C&A are going drop the manure straight in the trailer and give us a ring when it is full. That is efficient for both parties. Steve and I get a regular supply of muck and C&A get to keep a nice clean yard. I guess some of the surplus veg will find it's way to them as well.

I went down the lottie for a second time. This time was to feed the worms. when I got home H had a nice bottle of red warming and was preparing Tea. Irish soul food, bacon, cabbage and potatoes. The cabbage and potatoes courtesy of the lottie.

The last good day of Autumn

The weather has turned much colder over the last week with sharp frosts. Saturday was dry and cold. The weathermen say it will rain on Sunday so I decided winter digging was in order. I am writing this on Sunday so they were right. The patch that had pumpkins is the target for now. Usually the pumpkins grow so well they smoother the weeds. Not this year. The bed is fourteen foot wide. The pumpkin area was twelve foot long. I got togged up, ipod plugged in, wheelbarrow positioned and trug for the stones placed in a handy spot. It was slow going. The soil is covered with Toad Flax which requires quite alot of picking from the soil. There were a few Dock but they were quite small. Although I have dug this plot over several times, big pebbles keep coming up. It is all grist to the path's mill. The path is filling up nicely.

The new website "A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down" inspired me to get my Trangia out of the shed. For those who don' t know what a Trangia is click HERE. I usually take a flask but there is nothing like a nice steaming hot cup of Tea, however you can not make tea without tea leaves. In my rush out of the house I left the tea bags and milk behind. I just boiled up the water and just had it like that. Nevertheless on a cold day after working up a sweat at digging the hot water was welcome and warming.

The Trangia is a smashing gadget. Mine runs off Methylated Spirits. We have had it for years. The little kettle holds enough water for a big mug of tea or two cups. From cold to boiling takes about four minutes. You get two pans and the lid makes a frying pan or a lid for the pots. It is wind proof and safe. We used it when camping. We used set it up in just inside the flysheet. It made the tent lovely and warm. I might start staying at the lottie through the winter when the day is fine to make the most of the daylight and dry days. I can make my diner and brews on the Trangia.

Cider or Vinegar

My fifteen gallons of apple juice, from the mammoth juicing session, was split into two five gallon bins and the rest put in either Demi-johns as wine or bottled and frozen. The demi-johns are bubbling away as wine in the making. The juice that was bottled is in the freezer. The odd bottle that just went in the fridge for immediate consumption has started building up pressure. That's a clue it is starting ferment. I am getting through it. It taste sharp and fruity with a slight fizz.

The juice in the big bins is a tail of two pressings. Both bins had their lids put on and the air locks fitted at the same time. Both bins were put into the cool shed. Nothing seemed to be happening judging by the water level in the air locks. After a couple of weeks I snapped open the lids to see what was going on. One bin had a nice froth on the surface of the juice. Upon tasting it tasted like cider. The other bin had a gelatinous scum on the surface of the juice which I fished out. There was also an acidic aroma. Upon tasting there was a hint of acid. Is this going to be another vat of vinegar? After a little negotiation with H the bins were allowed indoors into the corner of the dining room. I left the bins for a week to warm up to room temperature. That corner of the room hovers around 64 degrees C. The cider bin picked up and start fizzing more vigorously. The vinegar bin just sulked. I thought I have nothing to lose, I mean who needs another five gallons of weak cider vinegar? I made up a whole sachet of general purpose yeast in warm water and got it started. Then I poured the activated yeast into the vinegar bin, refitted the lid and airlock and retired to a safe distance. It was a difficult two days to keep my nose out of the bin. I checked the airlock but no movement. On the evening of the third day after dosing the vinegar I had a test. The juice smalls fruity rather than acidic and you can see the gas bubbles fizzing to the surface. The juice tastes like cider but different to the other bin.

Following my highly scientific experiment I have come to the following conclusions:
a. The lids on the bins are not air tight.
b. The type of apples that are made into juice have different properties.
c. Relying on the apples to provide the right sort of yeast might not be a resilient plan.
d. The temperature of the shed is not right for cider making. It needs to be colder as in the fridge or hotter as in the dining room.