You know you've made a mess in your bathroom when you have to vacuum your tub before you can use it.

[Welcome, Eschatonians! --lambert]

Those of you who have followed my series on home winemaking have read about my Red Currant wine. This year I entered it into the Indiana State Fair International Wine Competition, the first time I've entered any of my wines in competition. And I'm pleased to announce that it won a Silver Medal!

My flood-delayed garden is limping along, and the tomatoes are finally at the point where they need some support. I’ve used commercial cages in the past but had found them wanting, especially the inverted cone baskets you commonly see. A vigorous and productive tomato plant will overwhelm and take those wimpy things to the ground. A more heavy-duty solution was in order.

These are homemade cages made from concrete reinforcing wire. They’re cheap and easy to make and are sturdy enough to stand up to the toughest tomato plant.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, this series has been on hiatus for a while. The flooding in the Midwest included the river behind my house, and while fortunately, I had no major water problems in my home, my backyard was a soggy mess. Even after the water receded and a week of dry weather, the ground was still too wet to work. The maple seeds however, found the environment much to their liking.

(Click here for previous posts in this series)

This is what my garden normally looks like by this time of year.

It’s been a cold, wet spring in Wisconsin and I’ve been busy with my land in Missouri, so my garden planting is far from finished. But that’s given the plants started indoors ample time for hardening off in preparation for setting into their final destination.

In the Spring, your skin needs time to acclimate to being exposed to bright sunlight, and your plants do too. Getting plants accustomed to outdoor conditions is called hardening off, and it’s very important to follow this step or all of your efforts getting your plants started will be for naught.

(Click here for previous posts in this series)

Took a walk in the woods after work today with the following results:

Thought that some of you who may not be familiar with morels would like to know what they look like.

It was a wet, cold day here, a good time fill the house with warmth and aromas from the kitchen. I had green salad on the menu for tonight's dinner and was out of croutons, so it was time to make another batch.

As your seedlings sprout in your flats, the first greens to appear are the “seed leaves” or cotyledons. They produce food for the plant as it begins to grow true leaves and are usually distinctly different in appearance from the plant’s leaves. If you are starting your seeds in flats, once the second set of true leaves start to appear it’s time to begin potting up – transplanting your seedlings from the flats into individual containers or cells of multi-packs.

Once you have a place to start your seeds you of course will need a growing medium and some type of container to put them in. Containers of all kinds are available, and just about anything can be used from milk cartons to egg cartons to purpose-made seeding flats as long as they meet a few criteria. They must be deep enough and sturdy enough to hold 2-3” of growing medium, they must be able to hold up to being wet, and they must provide adequate drainage. I use commercially made plastic seed flats as they are inexpensive, a convenient size, and easy to use and keep clean. Another option is peat pots, which can hold the plant until it’s ready to be set out, eliminating the need for intermediate transplanting, but they aren’t as flexible as using flats and can get costly for large numbers of plants.

The first thing you’ll need when starting seeds is a suitable place to do it. In order to start seed successfully, you must meet the environmental requirements for initial germination and subsequent growth of the plants until they reach the stage when they are ready for transplanting. A well designed rack or other area will meet the needs of correct temperature to start germination, and sufficient light and space to stimulate healthy growth.

Those of you who have read my previous posts know that in addition to an avid winemaker, I am a lifelong gardener. In Wisconsin, like many parts of the country, the only way to grow many types of vegetables and flowers is by setting out plants started earlier in the season from cuttings or seeds. I start most of my own plants in a seed starting rack I’ve built in my basement. This series will step you through the basics of starting plants from seed and setting them out into your garden.

I decided to hold off on posting until after the big primaries yesterday, so now it's time for a change of topic. Whether making your own wine or buying in bulk, you need to consider the needs of the wine if you're going to hold it for any significant length of time. And how long should you hold it?

For Winemaking 101 Pts. 1-6, see these previous posts.

A day like today when the temperature struggles to reach O (and fails!), is a good day to add some finishing touches to your bottled wine. These additions certainly aren't necessary, but add a lot of visual appeal and show a sense of pride in your accomplishment.

The wild grape wine that I started last week has been fermenting enthusiastically. I drew a sample last Saturday to measure the specific gravity and pH, and taste of course.

A Wine Thief in action.

I recently bottled the Currant wine I had in the works, so there were some carboys emptied and available for the next round of winemaking. I had 30 lbs. of wild grapes that I had collected last fall and had frozen for future fermenting, so it was time to get them thawed and put to work.

30 lbs of Vitis Riparia ready for fermenting

Last year, a neighbor of mine gave me a 10 lb. bag of cranberries. My apple tree had born badly that year, so I had only enough apples for a couple of gallons of juice. A little creative combination let to a new wine that turned out rather interesting, CranZapple. This year I got 19 lbs of cranberries, so I thought I'd do it again.

I had a bumper crop of Red Currants this year, so last July when they were at optimal ripeness, 31 lbs. of them went into the fermenter. Red Currant is one of my favorite wines to make as it ferments well, colors and clears beautifully, and is something I've rarely seen elsewhere. Since the wine was last racked, about 3 months ago, fermentation has finished, and it has cleared completely. Now it can be stabilized, sweetened, and prepared for bottling.

Holidays are often times when the confluence of family, friends, food and drink bring new things to your table. This year at the Feral household I served my Pear wine with Thanksgiving turkey which went over better than I expected considering my parents and sibilings preference for sweet wine. Of course, I had some Riesling Spatelese as a backup in case the Pear bombed. So how was your holiday experience? Any pleasant (or unpleasant) suprises?

When we last visited the Red Raspberry wine three weeks ago, it had just gone from the primary into the secondary fermenter. Fermentation has slowed and a layer of lees has formed on the bottom of the jugs, so it's time for the second racking. A hydrometer check shows a reading of 1.009, so there are still some sugars to ferment. Compare this picture to the previous hydrometer pic and you can see the wine is starting to clear.

Well, the raspberry wine won't be ready for the second racking for another week, and I just racked the apple wine yesterday, so while there's a bit of a lull, I thought I ask if any of you are making wine, or have made wine, or are thinking about making wine. So what have you got fermenting? What would you like to try? I'll be around for the rest of the weekend, so let's talk wine and winemaking.

It’s been 6 days since the addition of the yeast to the Red Raspberry wine. The cap has been punched down into the must twice daily, and the latest hydrometer reading of strained must shows an s.g. of 1.040, so it’s time for racking into the secondary fermenter.
(See here for the post on Primary Fermentation)

The apples on my Ida Red tree have finally gotten ripe, so while the red raspberry wine is working in the primary fermenter (see here for the beginning of the raspberry wine), it was time to pick my apples and press them out.

Ready to start squeezing

Earlier this year, I collected and froze 15 lbs. of red raspberries. Now join me as I start the process of turning them into 5 gallons of wine.

You want some good exercise? Try harvesting wild grapes while standing in a canoe! To keep your balance you’ll use muscles you didn’t know you had.

I’ve been busy and was out of town last weekend so I haven’t gotten the next batch of wine started yet, but in the meantime there’s a bumper crop of wild grapes along my river, so I’m collecting with the plan of taking another shot at wild grape wine. I haven’t make wild grape since very early in my winemaking adventures and I have to admit my first attempt wasn’t all that good, but my techniques have improved immensely since then. And the grapes are free, all you have to do is collect and clean them. Which leads me to today’s topic: Procuring Fruit for Making Wine.

The SS Sour Grapes

By this time you’ve racked your wine several times from one carboy to another. The airlock is quiet as fermentation has stopped. You notice that after the last racking, there has been no more sediment deposited on the bottom of the carboy, and using a wine thief, a specially formed glass tube for drawing samples of wine; you fill half a wine glass with your labor of love to check it for clarity and flavor. If you’re satisfied with the wine you can either leave it in the carboy for further aging, (assuming you don’t need the jug for additional batches of wine), transfer it to another container such as a small barrel, or in most cases you’ll choose to bottle. (For info on equipment up to this stage see Pt. 1a and Pt. 1b)