I tried them for the first time this year, but it wasn't a good one as they had to struggle with next to no water, as I simply didn't have any!
They did grow though and I've got a handful to try, but storage won't be a problem!
With just the two of us we're still struggling to keep up with summer broccoli and beans. There are mangetouts for dinner tonight and the successional peas are still flowering, but not many pollinators about now it's turned cooler and wetter, so may not get much from them. Time to plant next year's broad beans though, and get some garlic .
Started making crab apple wine on Saturday but from crabs collected from my garden, not the allotment. I have a crab apple at the allotment that I bought hoping it will act as a pollinator, but it's still a whippersnapper.
I'm using a mixture of two recipes for process, one for ingredients. This is them at stage 1, crushed and in water: Looks nice doesn't it?
Crushing apples doesn't be really create any juice, just fuzzy mush so I wasn't convinced at this stage.
Sunday I noticed the water had turned pink and the slop bucket smelt much nicer and I then added more water, sugar, raisins, and the yeasts: Looks more like food and less like vom in this photo I think? I peeked at it this morning and is has grown quite a lot, good job I had ullage space. I leave it now for a week before straining.
Did some measuring at the plot yesterday. I'm not putting in any veg this autumn, I have limited space due to the clay drying out everywhere and I want to concentrate on sorting out all the fruit and don't want overface myself with winter jobs and turn it into a big old chore.
I've decided to keep all my cell raspberries potted and keep them in the greenhouse, cold of course, over winter. The advice was to plant them straight out on receipt but I wasn't convinced due to the size of them. There's 17 of them to baby sit/occasionally check on. Intend to plant them out in Spring.
I've chosen 7 cordons, apples and pears to order bare root. The pears are pollination groups B,C,D, one partially self fertile. Hopefully I've got it right but my plot neighbour has some sensible looking pears that might assist also.
My apples are all A and B but I didn't put any thought into that, there're apples all over the place including my crab, Butterball, so hopefully pollination will be the least of any problems. I chose them based on cropping times, northern/wetness suitability, apparent health and I wanted to get a variety of colours but most are reddish to red.
I also have one space left in my blackberry line, I think I will order Loch Tay.
I also have spare bulbs to put in the plot so that's enough to be getting on with.
Hello just been to plot to see how it has fared in the gales 💨, pleaded to say not to bad
Have not made wine for years , however , kept Demjon and other bits in the loft , you never known , hope yours turn out ok . Pear was on of my favourites 🍐
Of again this weekend to Duxford air show , then it a sorting out plot for the winter , should keep me busy for a few weeks
Hey GWRS...Glad you survived the winds, I did too although my fellow allotmenteers were not so fortunate.
There was glass smashed over the path, I think panes waiting to be fitted in a greenhouse and on the opposite plot, a frame with apples trained on it has snapped, could possibly be fixed when fruit removed. I'm downhill, only one plot down but where I would have got excess water am a bit more sheltered from wind. Top plot with the apples flooded over winter too so he has had no luck at all.
Pear wine you say?🤔 Just looked up a recipe, I have loads of smaller pears this year, wonder if I could use the same tranklements as the crab wine...
Crab wine is no longer the clear pink colour, now looks like I rinsed out a baked bean can😕
Took 6 bags of horse poo up the lotment today and a wooden potting bench sort of a thing that used to live in my shed.
Prepped the area for the cordons I intend to buy and the blackberry line where I will have a Tay, a potted black and a new blackberry to plant.
Decided I will move some unwanted plants from the garden over winter, huge ratty globe thistles, raggedy sanguisorbas and some stachys byzantina just because I have so much. Have about 20 metres of the stuff (in sections), bred them all from one ear I found.
Can't remember if I already said above but the Eupatorium I moved in the topsoil from the garden to the plot has turned out to be a Vernonia that I threw out as it wasn't doing well. Would not have guessed that would survive but it's looking better than it ever did in the garden.
Crab apple wine has taken on a definite and unpleasant bean-juice hue after straining: Fancy a glass? Wish we still had that horrified smiley. I liked that guy. I'll use this one:
Have I really not done any allotmenteering since 23/9? Maybe I just neglected to file a report.
Today I went up and planted some globe thistles, big raggety things I grew from seed. Had them in the garden but they were in a narrow border and just looked a mess.
Crumbled up some clay clods, looking more managed now and less ploughed field.
Bought a standard gooseberry Invicta from B&Q recently. Don't know if that's a real thing (there aren't any standard goosegogs in my proper fruit catalogues) or something B&Q invented, but they were reduced to £2 so I picked out the ugliest spikiest one. Roots were folded backwards and wrapped in compost and plastic. I untangled all of this and have replanted in a pot for now (will put it in the ground over winter.) Read the instructions afterwards and think I wasn't supposed to pick the compost 'pot' off the roots but it seemed like the thing to do.
I think it's one of those gooseberries that can be turned into brown jam, doubt there will be sufficent on this ugly little tree but something for the rumtopf pot
Have also re-checked pear pollination partner charts with different suppliers (they are not all the same) and switched Louise Bonne for Humbug. Haven't ordered anything yet.
Filtered the crab bean juice earlier this week, I think it looks clearer but colour like Irn Bru. Will check again forthwith, probably strain again. Strong smell of cider. Does crab apple wine smell like cider? Or am I too uncultured to recognise the bouquet? 🍺
Hi @Victoria Sponge my wine often looks like that did you filter the mush through a jelly bag? Once bubbling away in a demi John it will clear more but you'll get quite a lot of sediment at the bottom. You just need to avoid sucking it up when your wine is ready to bottle.
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I'm using a mixture of two recipes for process, one for ingredients. This is them at stage 1, crushed and in water:
Looks nice doesn't it?
Crushing apples doesn't be really create any juice, just fuzzy mush so I wasn't convinced at this stage.
Sunday I noticed the water had turned pink and the slop bucket smelt much nicer and I then added more water, sugar, raisins, and the yeasts:
Looks more like food and less like vom in this photo I think? I peeked at it this morning and is has grown quite a lot, good job I had ullage space. I leave it now for a week before straining.
Did some measuring at the plot yesterday. I'm not putting in any veg this autumn, I have limited space due to the clay drying out everywhere and I want to concentrate on sorting out all the fruit and don't want overface myself with winter jobs and turn it into a big old chore.
I've decided to keep all my cell raspberries potted and keep them in the greenhouse, cold of course, over winter. The advice was to plant them straight out on receipt but I wasn't convinced due to the size of them. There's 17 of them to baby sit/occasionally check on. Intend to plant them out in Spring.
I've chosen 7 cordons, apples and pears to order bare root. The pears are pollination groups B,C,D, one partially self fertile. Hopefully I've got it right but my plot neighbour has some sensible looking pears that might assist also.
My apples are all A and B but I didn't put any thought into that, there're apples all over the place including my crab, Butterball, so hopefully pollination will be the least of any problems. I chose them based on cropping times, northern/wetness suitability, apparent health and I wanted to get a variety of colours but most are reddish to red.
I also have one space left in my blackberry line, I think I will order Loch Tay.
I also have spare bulbs to put in the plot so that's enough to be getting on with.
Have not made wine for years , however , kept Demjon and other bits in the loft , you never known , hope yours turn out ok . Pear was on of my favourites 🍐
Of again this weekend to Duxford air show , then it a sorting out plot for the winter , should keep me busy for a few weeks
There was glass smashed over the path, I think panes waiting to be fitted in a greenhouse and on the opposite plot, a frame with apples trained on it has snapped, could possibly be fixed when fruit removed. I'm downhill, only one plot down but where I would have got excess water am a bit more sheltered from wind. Top plot with the apples flooded over winter too so he has had no luck at all.
Pear wine you say?🤔 Just looked up a recipe, I have loads of smaller pears this year, wonder if I could use the same tranklements as the crab wine...
Crab wine is no longer the clear pink colour, now looks like I rinsed out a baked bean can😕
Prepped the area for the cordons I intend to buy and the blackberry line where I will have a Tay, a potted black and a new blackberry to plant.
Decided I will move some unwanted plants from the garden over winter, huge ratty globe thistles, raggedy sanguisorbas and some stachys byzantina just because I have so much. Have about 20 metres of the stuff (in sections), bred them all from one ear I found.
Can't remember if I already said above but the Eupatorium I moved in the topsoil from the garden to the plot has turned out to be a Vernonia that I threw out as it wasn't doing well. Would not have guessed that would survive but it's looking better than it ever did in the garden.
Crab apple wine has taken on a definite and unpleasant bean-juice hue after straining:
Fancy a glass? Wish we still had that horrified smiley. I liked that guy. I'll use this one:
Today I went up and planted some globe thistles, big raggety things I grew from seed. Had them in the garden but they were in a narrow border and just looked a mess.
Crumbled up some clay clods, looking more managed now and less ploughed field.
Bought a standard gooseberry Invicta from B&Q recently. Don't know if that's a real thing (there aren't any standard goosegogs in my proper fruit catalogues) or something B&Q invented, but they were reduced to £2 so I picked out the ugliest spikiest one. Roots were folded backwards and wrapped in compost and plastic. I untangled all of this and have replanted in a pot for now (will put it in the ground over winter.) Read the instructions afterwards and think I wasn't supposed to pick the compost 'pot' off the roots but it seemed like the thing to do.
I think it's one of those gooseberries that can be turned into brown jam, doubt there will be sufficent on this ugly little tree but something for the rumtopf pot
Have also re-checked pear pollination partner charts with different suppliers (they are not all the same) and switched Louise Bonne for Humbug. Haven't ordered anything yet.
Filtered the crab bean juice earlier this week, I think it looks clearer but colour like Irn Bru. Will check again forthwith, probably strain again. Strong smell of cider. Does crab apple wine smell like cider? Or am I too uncultured to recognise the bouquet? 🍺