Selfsufficientish.com

ina: "I think rhubarb wine is often a bit hit or miss, at least that's what some professional winemakers once told me .." That's interesting. Mine does seem rather variable. This year I only made a couple of gallons (vs. five in '21) and it's hard to tell how each will turn out. It's alway...

"Bachelor's Jam" sounds interesting, Green Aura - and I'm in the appropriate cohort. Presumably liquor means a suitable spirit. Usually I have plenty of raspberries, I made a couple of gallons of raspberry wine and four pounds of rather runny jam this year. Then the weather stayed dry and ...

A brief post to save effort, just in case anyone still reads my account of making wine. :icon_smile: This year's production so far: Raspberry, Rhubarb, Gooseberry, Blackcurrant, Cherry Plum (collected from the ground under a tree on public land), bought (Lidl) dark Plum. I picked the fruit off my Da...

I usually go on foot to badminton in the next village and pass near the 'shoe bank'. I don't want to carry a sackful, with the possibility it's full or not there, so I looked at the small print on it last time I was there and it's in aid of variety.org.uk a children's charity. I'll sort them out and...

Thanks Green Aura and ina, but I bring Good News! A few days ago I passed a shop which is a cobblers&keycutting place and noticed a wire mesh shoe recycling container by the door outside. I assumed they only wanted footwear in wearable condition but decided to check. So I stuck my head in the sh...

I'm not sure a traditional cobbler would do anything with cheap moulded soles and it would probably cost much more than they're worth but I suppose I could ask. I was hoping someone knew of a recycling route where the materials could be salvaged or at least separated for appropriate 'least environme...

I don't think I've ever thrown out unusable shoes as I've always thought there must be something I can do with them. Maybe some people in poorer parts of the world can do something with them. Mine are all male shoes with leather uppers and failed cheap soles. Too many times I was taken in by sturdy-...

Did you make any wine from brambles Ina? (How is that pronounced - 'eena' or eye-na'?) I made three gallons of blackberry (bramble) wine this year. The first was tasting rather too sweet and when the second was crying out for more sugar, I decided to mix them. I hope that turns out to be thr right t...

Why wait ina? If you have access to suitable fruit or veg and can get the essentials (yeast, steriliser, campden tabs, pectolase) quickly, why not start now if you have the time? Today I went out on foot to get fruit, both within 100m of home. I wanted enough cherry plums (to make a full batch with ...

Something else I've thought of. Most people make a gallon of wine, let it mature for a while and bottle it in nice, regular bottles with neat, pretty labels and corks and caps and put it in 'the cellar' to mature. Then one evening when their partner suggests they have a bottle with their meal, they ...

Getting on for two years later, what's in my cellar? Well, I finished consuming last year's production a few weeks ago so I have nothing in the cellar but 2021 production has started. So far I have 4 gallons of rhubarb wine, one each of raspberry, plum and apricot. The last two were made from fruit ...

OK Bernard, I've calmed down now (over a year later!) :icon_smile: At first I didn't like being told I was doing it all wrong but I can see you're almost certainly doing it right and in comparison I'm a bit slapdash and lazy with my methods. I'd like to tell you and anyone else reading this why I do...

Thanks for the links Flo. The RHS one looks simple to start with but I had to read it a few times and will again to understand. There's more judgement and counting than I expected!

I have rhubarb and gooseberries in the garden to make wine and in both cases I don't think I do a good job of pressing the fruit to get the maximum amount juice out. Most other wine isn't much of a problem as it's softer: plums etc. If you have on old fruit press I could make use of it. Price to be ...

I do like gooseberries. I'm hoping for a decent crop this year but I have a problem; I have one massive gooseberry bush which has grown over several years and each year produced almost nothing and I threatened it each time with being dug out and burnt. Two years ago it did produce a decent crop (10l...