Hi Tessa, I've used a fine strainer so far but yes good idea, a jelly bag or a muslin cloth perhaps?
Good to hear it isn't accidentally rancid. It hasn't at any point smelled bad and I don't mind if it's a bit cloudy/sedimenty. I'll strain it again tomorrow and look for a jelly bag for a finer filter.
Victoria , have you thought about buying some Mycorrhizal Fungi rootmore powder , a bit expensive but have use it for a year and I really think it works well and last for ages , you could use it on your gooseberry Bush With your wine , it all depends if “you” like the taste 🍷
Strained the 'wine' again this AM and got another half colander of slop out of it. It's a dark orangey brown, still has some sediment in. I'll get a bag and strain again in a week and see if it looks good to bottle.
I've had some M fungi before, think I used it on roses but definitely not on the last 6 I bought or 2 I moved. They look fine but maybe would have done better with the MF? I find it takes a year without flowering for bare root roses to settle in, maybe that could be why. Although the two I moved have flowered just the same.
I kind of gave up on things like that and also mixing BFB in planting holes etc, after not doing it a few times and not noticing any difference.
The company I intend to buy bare root cordons from sells sufficient to treat 25 plants for £5.95, so not prohibitively expensive. Maybe I'll conduct an experiment on my new fruit trees and publish my results on this very thread. 🤔🤔🤔
My £2 gooseberry is an experiment anyway, I've already took a shoot away from the base so if the worst happens I'll chop the standard twig off and grow it as a normal bush. That's not really the worst thing that could happen, maybe the best.
This is only slightly allotment related, 1 apple's worth.
Mulled all my remaining pears today. Have done this before using a recipe kindly provided by dove from above. Changed it slightly for this year's glut and chopped the pears into smaller chunks. I'm not sure if there is a reason for using whole or quartered pears, other than aesthetics, but you can fit more 'chunks' into a jar. They do look like chips though.
L-R:
pears in Greek red wine with star anise
pears in Suffolk cider x 2 with cloves. One was supposed to have a cinnamon stick but I forgot it until I was packing away.
pears and 1 large Broadholme Beauty windfall apple with sultanas in sherry. Smelt like a special hot cross bun while cooking
I added the apple because there weren't quite enough pears to fill the jar. Ate some of it, the first one I've tried. Crisp/sharp like a Granny Smith but juicy too. Very pleased with BB, it's a dual purpose but doesn't taste like a cooker.
Made too much red wine syrup, not concentrating, so now I have about .75 litres of a sort of medicinal tonic also a few shots of cider syrup and Sherry syrup as well as the dregs of the bottles...don't know why I find that more exciting than regular alcohol bought for the purpose possibly a bit giddy from the fumes.
I think some of the pears had caterpillars, as there were exit holes, poo, and there are two pear coloured caterpillars on my kitchen ceiling.
Indeed H Hog A good reason for removing the core and chipping. To be fair most of the pears were perfect and if the caterpillars were lower down (crawled into an alcove in the kitchen) I'd take them outside.
When I have my utility room built I'm going to try and have a special preserving/embalming area for all the tranklements and bottles and jars I'm collating. I think I need to invest in a large pan, also the rumtopf jar and I was wondering if I will need a fruit crusher at some point? Will do some research.
Does anyone else have an embalming room or is it part of your kitchen?
We have an a so called Utility room , which is really an extension of the kitchen , however we have an integral garage which is really a utility room , have not been able to get a car in there for last 20 plus years but very useful Apples , pickles , jams , garden tools ,etc, etc
That's what I was thinking, as building the utility room will remove the shed: garden tools and shelves of stuff I've bottled.
Currently I've got a fridge full of onions, cupboards with piles of garlic and my crab wine making stuff (can't smell the garlic now for the fermenting crabs)...be great to have a proper preserves storeroom.
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Good to hear it isn't accidentally rancid. It hasn't at any point smelled bad and I don't mind if it's a bit cloudy/sedimenty. I'll strain it again tomorrow and look for a jelly bag for a finer filter.
With your wine , it all depends if “you” like the taste 🍷
I've had some M fungi before, think I used it on roses but definitely not on the last 6 I bought or 2 I moved. They look fine but maybe would have done better with the MF? I find it takes a year without flowering for bare root roses to settle in, maybe that could be why. Although the two I moved have flowered just the same.
I kind of gave up on things like that and also mixing BFB in planting holes etc, after not doing it a few times and not noticing any difference.
The company I intend to buy bare root cordons from sells sufficient to treat 25 plants for £5.95, so not prohibitively expensive. Maybe I'll conduct an experiment on my new fruit trees and publish my results on this very thread. 🤔🤔🤔
My £2 gooseberry is an experiment anyway, I've already took a shoot away from the base so if the worst happens I'll chop the standard twig off and grow it as a normal bush. That's not really the worst thing that could happen, maybe the best.
Mulled all my remaining pears today. Have done this before using a recipe kindly provided by dove from above. Changed it slightly for this year's glut and chopped the pears into smaller chunks. I'm not sure if there is a reason for using whole or quartered pears, other than aesthetics, but you can fit more 'chunks' into a jar. They do look like chips though.
L-R:
pears in Greek red wine with star anise
pears in Suffolk cider x 2 with cloves. One was supposed to have a cinnamon stick but I forgot it until I was packing away.
pears and 1 large Broadholme Beauty windfall apple with sultanas in sherry. Smelt like a special hot cross bun while cooking
I added the apple because there weren't quite enough pears to fill the jar. Ate some of it, the first one I've tried. Crisp/sharp like a Granny Smith but juicy too. Very pleased with BB, it's a dual purpose but doesn't taste like a cooker.
Made too much red wine syrup, not concentrating, so now I have about .75 litres of a sort of medicinal tonic
I think some of the pears had caterpillars, as there were exit holes, poo, and there are two pear coloured caterpillars on my kitchen ceiling.
Pears are Invincible, a jolly fine pear and tree.
"You don't stop gardening because you get old, you get old because you stop gardening." - The Hampshire Hog
cheers 🍷
When I have my utility room built I'm going to try and have a special preserving/embalming area for all the tranklements and bottles and jars I'm collating. I think I need to invest in a large pan, also the rumtopf jar and I was wondering if I will need a fruit crusher at some point? Will do some research.
Does anyone else have an embalming room or is it part of your kitchen?
Apples , pickles , jams , garden tools ,etc, etc
Currently I've got a fridge full of onions, cupboards with piles of garlic and my crab wine making stuff (can't smell the garlic now for the fermenting crabs)...be great to have a proper preserves storeroom.