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.