Wine Fail

Without beating ourselves up too severely, the process of learning takes some fumbles. Our overly ambitious indulgent-sufficient selves lead to our first underutilization of crops. Growing along the borders of our fence is a native grape vine that yielded hundreds of delicate savory parcels. Due to the seed to grape ratio, a breed more intended for its value in wine. The idea of creating a drink we could share with friends in some sort of spiritual social pilgrimage, left us not wanting to waste a minute. So as soon as the juice press arrived, the harvesting began. Blue reusable Ikea bags spilled over in a cornucopia of abundance.

There was no doubt in our mind, this was going to be amazing. A fun for the whole family affair.

Such a historic beverage routed in ancestry would surely be as simple as juice, barrel and magic.

As we began reading the Amazon suggested book, we realized, just digesting the book was going to take at least 24 hours. There was no friendly bullet points of information or palatable pictures. This was hardcore stuff. Why did we think we needed a book anyhow? We turned to the internet.

Hydrometer, acid titration kit, sulfite crystals, camped tablets - what was this shit? Most how-tos didn’t even reference fresh grapes, they started with pre-stabalized over-the-internet juice. We were on a wayward path and I refused to accept all these tools were mandatory to tradition. We found a cute article about floating toast. Finally we came to some useful information which informed us the fermentation started at the beginning, with leaving the skins at room temperature for 24 hours, then adding them to the juice. But, my partner, always in a hurry to clean-up, had already chucked them in the compost.

All you can do is roll with what you got. It’s now sitting in a cool dark place aging in the carboy. No how-to from us on wine making this year.

We can offer some tips from our mistakes:

  1. Start with research and reading about the entire process
  2. Plan ALL steps ahead of time
  3. Inventory required equipment
  4. Only then begin picking the grapes
  5. Press with your feet, don’t waste time with an insufficient wooden press, (that will just take up space later). Using your feet also better avoids crushing the seeds, which can give your wine a bitter taste.
  6. Save it all, (and not in the compost). Fermentation doesn’t just happen in the juice… but that’s up to you.

Gettin Figgy

We’re very lucky of our abode. As our conscious evolved into a pursuit of harvesting and homesteading, our garden was already ahead of us. With herbs, tomatoes, avocados and this week: figs. 

Benefits of Figs 

  • The rich potassium content of figs helps to maintain the blood pressure of the body.
  • Figs are rich in dietary fiber, which makes them very effective for weight management program.
  • Even leaves of the fig plant have healing properties. Eating fig leaves helps diabetic patients reduce the amount of insulin intake.
  • Consuming figs helps to reduce the risk of breast cancer.
  • Calcium and potassium present in figs prevent bone thinning and help to promote bone density.
  • Tryptophan, present in figs, induces good sleep and helps get rid of sleeping disorders like insomnia.
  • Eating figs relieves fatigue and boosts memory power.
  • Drinking fig juice helps to soothe irritated bronchial passages.
  • Consumption of figs with milk cures illness like anemia.
  • Due to their laxative effect, figs are helpful for treating chronic constipation.
  • Daily consumption of soaked figs (2-3) is an effective remedy for curing hemorrhoids or piles.
  • The soluble fiber, called pectin, in figs helps in reducing blood cholesterol.
  • When applied on skin, baked figs can cure inflammations like abscesses and boils.
  • Due to their high water content, mashed figs act as a very good skin cleanser and help in preventing and curing acnes and pimples.
  • Figs are rich in calcium and are excellent calcium alternatives for people who are allergic to dairy products.
  • Consuming figs also helps in aiding digestion and taming various stomach and bowel-related problems.
  • The juice obtained from green figs is effective for softening and treating corns.
  • Figs promote the overall well-being of an individual and are excellent aphrodisiacs… 

Aphrodisiac you say?

Fig Aphrodisiac

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