Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Fruitful Fall

As I may have mentioned before, it has been killing me to not have a veggie garden this year.  Granted, I have not regretted my decision, as it has been crazy enough trying to get the house built and finish all of our other projects 300 miles away on the farm while simultaneously keeping the household at least somewhat functional.  However, the lack of a garden did certainly leave a part of me unfulfilled, so I had no choice but to take advantage of the plentiful fruits here on our rental in Gig Harbor.  I picked 5 lbs each of plums and blackberries and tried my hand at wine-making. 
I am hooked!  It is certainly a hobby that fosters patience, as the fermenting, racking, settling, bottling, and aging takes around 6 months before you have a finished product.  I just got to bottle the wines that I started this summer.  I am happy to say that they are drinkable, although they definitely need to age some more.  We will probably try them at Christmas time, although they won't be at their best until Feb or March.  Next year I plan on trying some of the wild fruits on Nine Trees, including elderberry, chokecherry, plum, and rose hip.  I think I will be starting a new blog specifically for farm doings... Nine Trees News.  Anyone interested in the farming aspect of our lives, stay tuned!  It will be everything from starting the market garden from "the ground up", to chicken husbandry and my preparations for selling eggs, hay making, canning/preserving, etc.   I will post a link once I get it started (probably with the New Year, so don't hold your breath yet!)
In the meantime, here is a little wine :-)

Bottles washed and ready to go...

Corks are sanitized...

...and Voila!

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