Grapple Part 1

 

     Having noticed that the organic apple juice that I have been occasionally buying is nonexistant in the grocery stores right now, I decided to try the Welch's grape juice concentrate method of making homemade wine. I remember years ago when I first started learning about homebrewing that you could make a subpar wine this way, but I also remember reading from a homebrewing book that you couldn't ferment any juice with ascorbic acid in it because that preservative inhibits yeast formation. So, I never did try it until now.

     There is a homebrewing store near my house but I have never been in it. One time I wanted to pop in and see what they offered but the woman running the store made me stand out in the heat with the kids for what seemed like minutes while she secured her yappy dog. So I turned around and left. After I tied everyone into their car seats she came to my window and apologized for having to secure her therapy dog. 

     This blend of grapple is seven juice concentrates of grape and one gallon of organic apple. I figure even if the grape doesn't ferment it will still taste pretty good.

     It's the most active ferment I have ever made, with bubbles rising and the airlock pinging on day one. I even took a video. The glass of the carboy is not very clear so forgive the quality.

Muscadine Grapes

      One grapevine planted several years ago now yields more grapes than I can ever harvest. This year I was able to reach four quarts of grapes for eating. They are sweet and crunchy. You know they are ready to harvest when the grapes are soft and springy, if they feel hard then they need more time on the vine. They seem to last quite a while in the refrigerator. Yes Muscadine grapes have seeds in them unless you are able to get a variety without seeds. 

Easiest Method for Cleaning a Glass Wine Carbouy

     The easiest way to clean a glass carbouy - get some denture cleaning tabs from the grocery store. They are about $5 for a hundred tabs, may be cheaper at other locations. No specific type is necessary. Then fill up your carbouy with warm water, and add about one tab per gallon size of your jug. Watch impatiently while it fizzes, come back later when the water is clear, and all done. Sediment removed from the top without scrubbing! Rinse thoroughly and reuse your jug for another batch of wine.

Rice WIne Recipes

Author Unknown Fast
Rice Wine Recipe

3 lbs white rice (not instant)
1 lg box white raisins (15 oz)
1 box dark raisins (15 0z)
2 tablespoons yeast
5 lb sugar
3 large peeled oranges or dates, quartered
6 qt water

     Thoroughly mix all the ingredients in a large 5 gallon bucket. Stir every day, keeping the lid on between stirrings. After about 20 days, rack to bottles. About 10 days later, after the yeast has settled, rack to clean bottles and serve.

Longshen Rice Terraces, China

Jack Keller's Rice Wine Recipe

2 lbs long grain brown rice
2 lbs granulated sugar
1 lb chopped golden raisins
7-1/2 pts water
4 tsp acid blend
1 tsp pectic enzyme
1 tsp yeast nutrient
1/2 tsp tannin
1 crushed Campden tablet
Champagne or Sherry wine yeast

     Rinse the rice well, then put in glass bowl with just enough water to cover rice. Chop the raisins and add to rice, adding enough water to cover them, too (1 quart total). Soak overnight or 12 hours. Pour rice and raisins into a nylon straining bag, saving the soaking water. Put sugar in remaining water in large pot and put this on to boil. Bring to boil and remove from heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Put nylon straining bag in primary and pour in soaking water. Add acid blend, yeast nutrient and tannin. Pour sugar water over this and stir. Cover with clean cloth and set aside to coll. When at room temperature, add crushed Campden tablet and stir again. Recover primary and let set 24 hours. Add wine yeast and recover. Stir daily for two weeks. Remove bag and let it drip drain (do not squeeze) into primary. Recover primary and let wine settle overnight. Rack into secondary and fit airlock. Rack after 3 months, top up and refit airlock. Repeat 3 months later. When wine is clear, stabilize, wait 10 days and rack into bottles.

Citrus in Florida

     Back when people first started moving to Florida in the late 1800's (No AC, what were they thinking?), they tried planting groves of the different trees over the entire state. I'm pretty sure Swingle and Dancy cultivars were created here. Since then, years with freezes have slowly been driving the industry to the areas south of Tampa and Orlando. It's still a multi-billion dollar a year industry, employing thousands of workers.
     Pest pressures, like fungi and insects, make our oranges unsightly, so bland eating oranges usually come from California or Arizona, while Florida's tasty oranges usually go to make juice.
     Here in west central Florida, just north of Tampa, I have been having a lot of success with loquat (sort of a citrus). The other varieties of less cold sensitive citrus are Meyer lemon and tangerine/mandarin. Key limes can't handle the cold. Ugli fruits are even more tender, Americans sometimes import them from Puerto Rico and further south.

     Over the years I have watched my father struggle with trying to grow citrus here. He's tried every variety, all different kinds of planting situations. He's tried planting on slopes. He's tried planting near a pool (heat sink). He's tried planting near a south-facing wall. We've agreed to give up on oranges, particularly since the price of trees has gone up over the last few years to usually at least $35 per tree. Could it have something to do with this?
     The state was found to be at fault for the forced removal of 865,000 residential, dooryard citrus across the southern counties. They have been paying approximate $30 million in damages, to replace the removed trees.

"[Judge Robin Rosenberg] wrote that “exposed citrus trees, which were not determined to be infected with citrus canker but were located within 1,900 feet of another citrus tree determined to be infected with citrus canker, do not present an imminent threat to the public health, safety or welfare, or constitute a public nuisance.”

    There is something to be said for planting the trees in the appropriate microclimate. Sepp Holzer, farming genius, can supposedly grow them in snow. If you use blankets and Christmas lights to keep your tree warm, do be sure they are the old fashioned incandescent type, as LEDs won't make heat for you. My father has used the blankets and lights trick successfully, but in my not-so-humble opinion, it's really not worth the effort. There are so many other kinds of good fruit trees to plant, why try to baby one to keep it alive? Spend electricity on plants? What?
     Always beware that due to pest pressures a lot of citrus are grafted onto root stocks, and a particularly tough freeze cycle may kill your citrus but the root stock may survive to provide you a less than desirable fruit. One of the most common is sour orange, which is actually a pretty nice fruit. Tart like a lemon, but orange flavored. I made sour orange meringue pie one year with it.

Squash Wine Recipe

• 5 lbs ripe Hubbard squash flesh, grated
• 2 lbs Demerara (or Turbnado) sugar (light brown sugar is a poor substitute)
• 11-oz can of Welch's 100% White Grape Juice frozen concentrate
• zest and juice of 3 Valencia oranges
• zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 tsp finely diced ginger root
• 3 3-inch sticks cinnamon
• 6-8 whole cloves
• 1/4 tsp powdered grape tannin
• 6 1/2 pts water
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• Champagne wine yeast

Put water on stove to boil. Cut and remove seeds from squash. Peel and grate squash and place in nylon straining bag with zest, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Tie closed and set in primary. Remove water from heat and stir sugar and Welch's concentrate into water until sugar is dissolved and pour over nylon bag. Cover and set aside to cool. When cooled to room temperature, add citrus juice, tannin and yeast nutrient. Stir and add yeast in a starter solution. Re-cover and stir daily, punching down the bag each time, until specific gravity drops to 1.010 or below.

Remove and drip drain bag (do not squeeze). Discard bag contents. Transfer to secondary, add one finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet, stir gently and fit airlock. Rack every two months for six months. Stabilize with one finely crushed and dissolved Campden tablet and 1/2 teaspoon potassium sorbate and let sit 10 days -- 30 days if you sweeten it -- then rack into bottles. Cellar two years at least before drinking. [Jack Keller's own recipe] Makes one gallon.

From Jack Keller's Wine Blog

Maypop Passionflower

Uses : Edible, Medicinal. Native to : Southeastern United States, possibly originally from Central America.
     This attractive flowering vine, which resembles a southern version of clematis, is a scourge of the southern landscape. It is banned in Hawaii and on the Florida Invasive list. I can't say it is as invasive as the non-native kudzu though, since passionflower doesn't seem to be taking over whole forests at the moment.
     A good deal of thought and research should be done before allowing this plant into your area. According to legend, about twenty years ago my mother wanted some passionflower vine for a side fence in our yard. Against my father's protestations (supposedly). Since that time the passion vine has never left our block, it comes up from seed in different places every year and in the neighbor's yards. Since the majority of my neighbors are retirees and renters, they just leave the vine to do as it will - spread and seed. The vine forms an underground tuber which goes quite deep for a vine, and if the foliage is removed it will be able to return.
     The best way to control passion vine is to pull out the young shoots every week in the spring. It is very easy to spot with its conspicuous triple-lobed or penta-lobed leaves. After the foliage is removed several times the tuber won't have energy to try again. This can be a bit labor intensive. Once the vine is larger later in the season it is nearly impossible to remove, so removing the flowers before seed setting can help.
     It does completely freeze to the ground every winter here in West Florida, even in mild winters. I usually pull out the shoots that come up in undesirable places in the spring and leave the ones that are hard to pull. If a passionflower wants to grow into the cherry laurel trees then good luck, it's not hurting anything there.
     The name 'maypop' comes from the sounds the fruits make when children throw them on the ground or jump on them. In late summer the fruit will set, making apricot-sized green globes with many seeds inside. The fruits are so seedy they are more like tiny pomegranates.    
     The 'passion' in the name comes from a symbolic representation of the Christian trinity some say they can see in the sex organs of the flower. In my opinion it should be renamed Maypop Zombie-flower as it has an unattractive smell and the plant returns from the dead every spring.
     When grown from seed passionflowers make beautiful houseplants. Their long, trailing vines and beautiful flowers are quite amazing. Vining plants tend to be forgiving in watering requirements as well. Do grow from seed in a pot if growing for indoor use as they do not take transplanting well and do not root in water as easily as many other vines.

     Much like the sweet potato, if properly trained the vines could make a very excellent natural privacy screen if you happen to live close to your neighbors. The vine does die down in the winter, which could make it useful for a shade-producing screen or for a pergola.
     The flowers are like bee and butterfly kryptonite. They are hopelessly attracted to the huge, smelly purple blossoms. I've personally seen the rare and mysterious zebra butterfly in my yard thanks to this vine.
     There are over 500 different varieties of passion vine available, the vines are able to hybridize with one another easily so proper identification of your cultivar can be intimidating.
     Passionflower is grown the world over in tropical areas. The most common eating variety comes from Peru and Central America. The fruit is eaten fresh, juiced, jammed, canned, fermented into wine, baked into desserts, etc.
     Remains of seeds have been found in Incan and Aztec ruins. After reading This Paper I have no doubts that the spread of passionflower throughout eastern North America was aided by human hands.
     Extractions from the plant are known to have sedative and analgesic properties. Native Americans made teas with the leaves to help treat insomnia. Since then it has been used to help with seizure disorders, substance abuse programs, and organic brain syndromes. The fruit is high in lycopene and Vitamin C.
     I was unable to find any research about whether it would be safe to use the foliage as a fodder, but I highly suspect it would not be safe in any significant quantities. After the first frost just remove the frozen vines and place in your compost heap.
     

Cavendish Banana

Uses : Edible, Forage. Native to : Southeast Asia
     Cavendish Bananas do not really grow well here in West Florida. Actually they grow very well with plenty of supplementary water during the dry period and protection from freezing in the winter. So I'm saying they need a lot of care to thrive this far north of the Caribbean. A truly beautiful plant, bananas are the idealization of the word 'tropical'. Cavendish bananas are a dwarf variety more suited to the home landscape. It should be planted in the wettest, warmest place in your property, sheltered from cold winds in the winter. It can handle full sun if receiving enough water. High winds will rip the leaves, but the 'trees' seem no worse for wear.
     My father thinks that they need to have two long growing seasons with a frost-free winter in between in order to have fruit. It sounds reasonable, as my bananas have never had a flower and neither have his. When I lived in Riverside, Jacksonville, one of my neighbors had a Cavendish that had flowers and then fruit, and it was beautiful. I can only guess that their yard had a very excellent micro climate.
       Because the fruits of the plant lack viable seeds, propagation is via the new shoots the plant creates like bamboo. It is said that you can tell a plant has been in cultivation for a long time when it can no longer reproduce sexually but requires humans to transplant. Like taro. Actually these bananas have a lot in common with taro as they are grown in similar parts of the world and prefer moist, humid conditions.
     Perhaps most people are pretty familiar with the banana, but did you know the skin/peel is edible as well? In Africa a banana wine is produced, for local consumption only, apparently, and is known for being one of the most nutritious of fermented foods as the wine contains most of the B vitamins and some of the potassium the original bananas had. Dehydrated banana chips are also very nutritious and have a long shelf life if made properly. Plantains, bananas' sister, are used in the same way potatoes are.
     Banana leaves are used in Africa to wrap foods in like a packaging, and as disposable plates. Some people wrap meats in banana leaves before baking for added tenderness and flavor. The leaves can be used for thatching and are frequently used as a natural umbrella. Leaves and pseudostems make a decent fodder for ruminants, but are not complete nutritionally. One source recommends banana pseudostems and sweet potato vines in combination, or urea. Ick.

IFAS - Bananas

Zebra Aloe, Aloe zebrina, Aloe maculata

Uses : Medicinal, Edible, Xeriscaping, Forage. Native to : Africa.
     This little survivor is a perennial here in Florida. Its thick, fleshy leaves allow it to store moisture during periods of irregular rainfall. It quickly, probably yearly, sends up offsets via shoots from the roots. Zebra aloe is a short little plant that will send up large showy pink flowers on a somewhat alien-like stalk that looks very little like the plant itself.
     These little aloes hybridize easily with one another, making them very difficult to concretely identify.

     To harvest the edible part of the aloe, first break off a leaf, then cut the skin off very carefully. Take the meat and drop into a smoothie (aloe is eaten raw to maximize the anti-inflammatory properties. I suspect that eaten in large quantities aloe might cause diarrhea, so please be mindful, particularly if giving to your animals, who might not like it anyway.
     The sap can be squeezed from the leaves and used as a soap. I have also used the sap in very small amounts for sunburn relief, and it works just as well as the store bought stuff.  It might be even better because it has no coloring or additives.
     I was able to find a very interesting looking recipe for aloe wine, but was unable to locate the original article the recipe was sourced from... here's the recipe. It looks like it would probably make about a gallon of wine.

It’s made with 5 stalks of aloe vera, 2 pounds of granulated sugar, 1/2 cup of raisins, 8 cups of water, 1 teaspoon of yeast, and the juice of one orange. Peel the aloe and cut it into cubes and add it to a container with the raisins, orange, and sugar. Next, boil the water and pour over the aloe vera mixture. Then, dissolve the yeast in luke warm water and pour the yeast into the cooled aloe vera mixture. Cover and let it remain for 21 days, stirring occasionally. Strain and put the wine into a sterilized bottle.

Aloe Vera Wine Recipe

Loquat, Eriobotrya japonica

Uses : Edible Fruit, Forage. Native to China.
     This is a small tree, maybe 20-30 feet tall, but can easily be trimmed into a dwarf style with yearly pruning after fruiting. It is not native, but like the mandarin orange, it can withstand the mild winters in most of Florida. It has been reported that it will not set fruit north of Jacksonville, and I can say that I have never seen loquats growing in Duval, but it could be unknown there.
     It sets its flowers in the fall and fruit ripens in the spring. The fruit can be eaten fresh, with the seed removed, or cooked into jellies, added to sauces, or used in any way you would use an apple or pear. They can be dehydrated or canned, with the seed and peel removed for canning. The fruit should be an orange color and soft when fully ripe, if hrd and yellow it is not ready. The fruit ripens on the tree and will not ripen adequately once picked.


     I suspect the reason not more people enjoy this delicious fruit is that it has a shelf-life of about a week. I have seen it at the farmer's market just once, and never in the grocery store. Usually all the fruit ripens on the tree at about the same time, much like its cousin the apple. Also wine can be made from the crushed fruit in much the same way as you would make apfelwein. A winery near Gainesville makes delicious loquat wine, but it is only available locally.
     The tree does not seem to have problems with pests, unless you consider birds a pest when they ninja all your ripe fruit.

Loquat Wine Recipe

4 pounds fresh loquats
2 1/4 pounds sugar
Water to one gallon
1 campden tablet (crushed)
1/2 teaspoon pectic enzyme
1 teaspoon acid blend
1/4 teaspoon grape tannin
1/2 teaspoon yeast nutrient
Wine yeast

Croatian Fruit Spirits

     "The recipe that I use is one that has been in my family dating back close to 200 yrs. (of course there have been slight modifications over the years...we now use boughten yeasts instead of wild yeasts and we buy tomato paste instead of making it). This recipe is for a 5 gallon mash. I take 20lbs. of the biggest stickiest grapes we can pick, and I freeze them.(it is easier to de-stem them when they are frozen). Then I pull them off of their stems and put them in a 3 gallon stockpot and add enough water to cover the grapes a few inches. Then I bring them to a boil and mash them with a potato masher untill ALL the grapes are mashed pretty good. Then I add 5 lbs. of white granulated sugar and a 6oz can of tomato paste and stir until it is disolved. Next, I pour it all into a 6 or 7 gallon bucket and fill it to 5 gallons with cold water, squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon and cover it. When the temp is down to about 78-80 degrees F is when I get my yeast started. I have used baker's yeast and it works fine, but lately I have been using Red Star's champagne yeast.(very similar to ec-1118). I take 3-5, 5gram packets and put them in a pitcher that is 1/2 full of the mash from the bucket. I stir it well, and leave it sit over night. The next morning, I skim off whatever is floating off the top of the bucket and discard it. Then I SLOWLY pour the yeast pitcher into the mash stirring it gently. Then I cover it with a couple layers of plastic wrap and a rubber band (I poke some holes in the plastic with a pin). Every morning, I skim whatever is floating off the top and stir vigorously, and stir again 3-5 times a day. After about 3 days of this, I slowly pour the contents into a new bucket. The grape seeds will be on the bottom of the bucket (I save them and plant them later) you can discard them. Top the bucket with water to 5 gallons, cover it again. I will stir it vigorously 3-5 times a day until it stops fermenting. (usually about 2 weeks) when it is done fermenting, it is still a thick juice that contains alcohol, and does not resemble wine at all. NOW it is ready to run. We have always run in a pot-still. 1st run. FAST, collect everything until the distillate coming out is about 20-25%abv. 2nd run. SLOW, discard the first 150ml. we collect in 250ml increments, and add them together to taste. we stop collecting at about 30%abv. The finished product has a little bit of a grape aroma and after flavor. We usually age it in natural uncharred oak, and sometimes we add about a half cup of raisins to age it with.
     This is how we have made ALL of our fruit spirits for as long as anyone can remember. Although, when we make our heritage slivovitz, we use wild yeast only, and NO sugar, and we also use a bit more fruit. This is the traditional Croatian method of making Slivovitz that my family and others have used for around 200 years."

Home Distiller

Prickly Pear, Opuntia vulgaris

Newly  planted rooted leaf pad.

Uses : Food, Liquor, Forage, Firewood, Fencing. Native to Mexico.
     The prickly pear cactus is an amazing little survivor. It is a true cactus and is grown all over the world in dry climates for the leaves and fruit. It has naturalized itself to the scrub forests of West Florida and is as good as native. Ever so slowly it can grow with no care on your part whatsoever.
     Spreading prickly pear (Opuntia humufusa), has many, if not all of the same good qualities as the more common prickly pear, but is a native of the pine forests here in Florida. It is a low-growing perennial, bane of hikers not watching their footing. It rarely gets even half a meter in height, and is able to reproduce vegetatively when leaf pads that become detached from the parent root themselves.
     The leaf pads can be eaten by people once the spines are removed. Typically the young pads are selected for human consumption before the spines harden. It is usually sliced into strips and cooked as you would a green bean.
     Later, the leaf pads can be used as cattle forage if the spines are burned away or otherwise removed. This has helped farmers in Mexico when lack of rainfall browns the fields. The leaf pads are quite high in moisture which will also help sustain cattle. Prickly pear can be used to create a natural hedge which will keep cattle fenced, as they do not wander through the thick spiny pads.
     The little red fruits can be eaten raw after skinning and are usually served chilled. Many cultures worldwide distill prickly pear fruit juice into a liquor. The juice can also be used to ferment into a wine, known as colonche.
     The process for making colonche has changed very little over the centuries. The fruit is harvested, peeled, crushed, the juice collected and boiled for two or three hours. Then the juice is allowed to ferment for several days. Sometimes other colonche is added as a starter. After primary fermentation it can be served.
     In Mexico the cactus are raised as a fodder for an insect known as cochineals, which create a natural red dye that has some trade value.
     Four Ways to Preserve Prickly Pear Pads

Century Plant, Agave americana

Hasn't been watered in ten years.

Useful for : Xeriscaping, Shelter Thatching , Wine, Liquor. Inedible. Non-foragable. Native to : Mexico.
     This large succulent is extremely drought tolerant and can handle full sun. It could be a good plant for a sandy ridgeline where other plants fail to thrive due to low moisture conditions. It has no animal habitat, and nothing seems to thrive on it.
     It is said to bloom only once in its long life, which can be longer than 30 years. After blooming it will produce pups which can be separated and replanted elsewhere. Very slow growing.
     The nectar can be harvested to make a white, fermented alcoholic drink called pulque, and a singly distilled liquor called mezcal, not to be confused with tequila which is made from blue agave. When the century plant matures enough to produce a flower (about 12 years), the flower is cut off and sap is collected to ferment into pulque. A single plant can continue producing sap for up to a year. Mezcal production requires the agave heart to be harvested, roasted, pulled, boiled, fermented, then distilled. Both drinks are largely both produced and consumed within Mexico.
     The leaves can be harvested to make thatching for shelters. Some people harvest the leaves for fibers. Century plant produces pita hemp, while another agave makes the more well-known sisal. Leaves are frequently used in Mexico to make barbeque by lining the roasting pits.