JUNE 2007

June ... and it's wet!

The year seems to be gliding swiftly along. I can't believe it's June already, the month of the longest day. Around the 21st June the sun has reached it's furthest point north as the earth tilts on its axis. From Midsummer's day the earth tilts back and the days begin to wane. I suppose we consider August to be 'high summer' because the heat remains in the earth, stone and sea around the British Isles, making it hot and pleasant to swim in the ocean. However, it's June that boasts Midsummer and the longest day.

Midsummer is one of the key pagan festival waypoints of the year along with Beltane (May day), Samhain (October 31 and the origin of Halloween) and Yule (21 December) incorporated into the Christian Christmas festival (though echoes still exist to modern times with the 'Yule log'). The old pagan festivals are still there under the surface! (Pictured above is a bee on Hemlock Water Dropwort - one of the most poisonous plants in Europe! This was taken by the river close to my house this month).

I've picked a fair amount of rhubarb from the allotment and have been keeping it in the freezer until I had enough for some wine. Instead of using one particular fruit on its own I like to add some sultanas as a 'base' - they give the wine more fruitfulness but keep it light and tasty. (You can use grape concentrate too but sultanas are cheaper). Anyway, I chopped the rhubarb and sultanas and popped them in a sterilized brewing bin and added 4 bags of sugar, a teaspoon of citric acid, yeast nutrient and pectolic enzyme. (A bag of sugar per gallon plus the fruit sugars will give a wine around 12%). A few pints of boiling water and a good stir ensured all the sugar had dissolved. Cold water was added to top-up to the four gallon mark. I tend to make four gallons at a time these days so I can bottle two gallons to keep but have two gallons for quick drinking.

The mix was left four days stirring twice a day as the CO2 bubbles given off makes the pulp rise to the surface. The liquid was then strained off into four sterilized demi-johns and air locks fitted. A hydrometer was used to check the progress of fermentation and when the specific gravity of the wine reached 1000 to 995 the wine was siphoned off the sediment into clean jars (this is called racking). Two crushed Campden tablets were added to each gallon to inhibit further yeast activity. The jars will be left in a cool place for the majority of debris to fall to the bottom and the wine will be racked again leaving the sediment behind. If the wine needs polishing then it can be filtered so its crystal clear.

The last time I described this process was August 2006 when I made some wild damson and blackberry wine. Well, it's been nearly a year so I decided to have a bit of a taste to see what it was like.

I dusted off a bottle and ... wow it was great. I'm not a great fan of red wine preferring white but this was really fruity and fresh. (As I added sultanas I suppose it's a bit lighter than a full blown red).

I've posted a picture here to show that the murky liquid in the jars can become clear with time and/or filtering. I'm really thankful I have another eleven bottles to enjoy. Also, twelve bottles of last year's blackberry and apple, six rhubarb, eight apple and grape, another six ... well you get the picture!

Late June

This month has been very wet indeed with floods in some parts of the UK. Temperatures have also been cool for June but the weather hasn't stopped the wild flowers from blooming. I've come across a fair amount of early summer flowers with the purple Rosebay Willowherb ever prolific at the edge of fields. My favourite this month was a lovely Field Rose clambering through a hedge. 1 Rosebay Willowherb : 2 Field Rose.

The wet weather has caused fungi to appear and I photographed an interesting finger-like fungus called 'Small Stagshorn'. It lives on dead wood and can be bright yellow to orange. This cluster was growing on an old burned trunk.

The allotment is still plodding along with the onions swelling, early potatoes ready for lifting and runner beans clambering up the canes. It could do with some more sunshine though!

Next month will be the first year anniversary - see you in July. Bye for now.