The blood of the grape

After talking about making wine for quite awhile--probably as long as I have been making beer-- in January of 2013 I put it in my goals for the year to start a batch of wine.  I met my goal-- barely.  On December 27 I started a wine kit by putting three gallons of juice into a big bucket and pitching in some yeast.  On February 27 of this year I bottled my first batch--15 bottles of port I named Grey Havens Port.  You LotR fans will recognize the reference.  It turned out pretty well-- tasting similar to a commercial bottle I opened for comparison.  I chose port for my first batch because I figured it would be more forgiving than a table wine.  I also thought it could be a communion wine, but the kit cost the same as what we use at church, so it definitely is not worth the hassle.  My next batch, which I just started on March 19, is a Riesling Ice wine style.  I expect that will be another sweeter wine with a high probability of turning out well.

Seed order time

Receiving and pouring over a garden seed catalog is always a delight driven task for a gardener.  Since we live in a town with a major seed supplier that fills seed orders for more than one catalog, it has been our habit to go down to their retail store and purchase what we need.  Last year we discarded most of our older seeds and replenished our stocks, so our needs weren't great this year.  I was looking for a variety of green bean that I couldn't find at the retail store, but I found just what I wanted mail order.  Mrs. Gardener and I had been very impressed with a green bean side dish served at a local restaurant, the beans always being thin and tender, not the thicker ones that come out of our garden.  In the course of my research I discovered the " French/filet bean" which are bred to be thin and suited to the French cut which is also my favorite form of canned bean.  I ordered two varieties of the filet style bean, including one that is purple at harvest, and turns green as you cook it.  I also ordered a gerkin style pickle and an English style cucumber (long and thin).  Lastly, flush from our first victory in five years over the local deer herd, I ordered some more Swiss chard seed, the colorful kind.  Mrs. G discovered last year that the deer will lay off the Swiss chard if it has it's own cage.  Swiss chard is the closest thing to candy to a deer.

Garden successes

I don't seem to be very good about keeping up with this gardening blog once the summer gets going.  My last post was midsummer last year.  Well, it is planning time for 2014, so it is time to begin posting again.  I will start out be reflecting on the crops we grow, grow successfully and will repeat.

Garden crops in order of their success and benefit:

1. Raspberries.  A perennial favorite, that generally do well with minimal maintenance.  Last year I implemented a management technique I learned from a commercial grower- to mow down half the patch each year to prevent overgrowth.  So now I have two patches with alternate production years.

2. Potatoes.  We love the Yukon Golds, and we're able to grow enough last year to last until Christmas.  They are fun to dig up, (ok, it's still work) but it is like digging for treasure, and with the new mulch system I am planting them shallower and mounding with mulch.  You will notice two varieties of potatoes in the photo.  These are  Russets that accidentally sneaked into the garden, but we discovered they store so much better, that we plan to grow more this year.

3. Tomatoes.  Not a flashy crop because we use them mostly for sauce, but they contribute all year to our food supply.  We have been growing 8-10 plants for years now.

 

4. Asparagus. Not a big yielder yet, but the pleasure to yield ratio is very high.  I am anticipating a large increase in yield, so the patch is starting to fill in the patch, as I recognized many small plants for either seed or stolons. That was either new or I had been tearing them out with the weeds in previous years.

5. Sweet corn.  Another crop we don't get much in yield - only a few meals a year, but we really enjoy those.  Plus, what would a garden be without sweet corn? It is such an iconic crop.

6. Pumpkins and squash.  Space consuming, but easy to grow enough for a year's worth of pies and squash recipes.  Until we went with the mulch system it was hard to keep weeds down, but last year the plot was clean.

7. Salad fixins.  The first plantings of the year are Snow peas, lettuce and radishes, and these  are also the first harvest of the early summer.  Impossible to grow enough for the year, but like fresh sweet corn and asparagus, is an existential pleasure while it is in season.

8. Dipping veg.  Snap peas, cukes, and Kohlrabi lead the list here.  Great while they last.  The peas and cukes do great when allowed to vine up on chicken wire.  Pictured are Asian Cucumbers.

9. Green beans.  Best fresh, so we don't grow too much of these.  Also grew wax beans last summer, but the rabbits (or deer) liked them preferentially to the greens.  Bush style works best for us.  Would like to find a more slender variety than seems to be available at our local seed store.

10. Cabbage.  I failed at sauerkraut a couple of years ago, so we are back to fresh eating in coleslaw and I like cooked cabbage too.  It is easy to make more slaw than we can eat.  Need to space the plantings out more so we can get a fall crop.  Last year grew three varieties, and one of them (golden -Acres, I believe, split, and was ruined.

11. Herbs - mint, oregano, thyme, basil, parsley, chives, and sage are the regulars.  Low maintenance.

12. Apples. These are our newest addition, and prought great pleasure this fall as we harvest 15-20 big beautiful  Honeycrisps  or Zestars (I am not sure which because  only one flowered, and I have forgotten which was planted where).  It was a perfect year for apples, no disease or bugs despite not spraying.  I don't expect every year to be so productive for apples.  Pruning is a chore best done in the late winter,  so it often gets forgotten, and I lack confidence that I know what I am doing.

13. Peppers, both sweet and chili.  Easy to grow and so colorful!

14. Zucchini.  One plant easily feeds the family for fresh and frozen needs, with plenty of large club like fruits left over at season end.

15. Fall greens.  Swiss chard and kale are more interesting to grow than to eat.  Finally outsmarted the deer and got Swiss chard to maturity by caging the plant.

16. Blueberries.  After 3-4 years, we finally got a dozen or so berries - maybe a trend in the right direction, or maybe just "less total failure".  The jury is still out.