Author Archives: Kevin

Keeping Rabbits out of your Garden

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Since a rabbit decided to eat all of the tomato and pepper plants that I planted I purchased replacements this weekend. I took the opportunity to also do a few up-keeping things I meant to do already.

I purchased four more landscape timbers to increase the depth that I'm capable of in Garden #2. To keep rabbits out I used 48″ rebar rods to anchor each corner, sinking each 12″ into the ground. Attached to the rods I have surrounded the plot with the same metal fencing I used to build the compost bin.

Tomato & Pepper

Bottling Wine in Bags

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I've had this idea for a while: what if instead of bottling into bottles we did it into bags?

Boxed wines have been around for a while and have a stigma of being 'cheap'.  For good reason, if a wine maker wants to keep the price down on his wine a good way to do it is to sell it in a box which weighs less and ships easier.

I had an opportunity to acquire a few bags from Corbett Canyon brand boxed wine. The bags are 3L, which is roughly (depending on how we fill) 4 regular sized bottles of wine.

The plastic tap are easily removed to allow access to the interior. I cleaned two bags with a sanitizer solution and left them to dry. When bottling last night we filled two bags and replaced the taps, attempting to remove all of the air, and put the bags back into the boxes they came from.

Apparently the taps do not hermetically seal. This could be an issue for long term storage. I'll again update once we've tried some of the wine from the bags.

Sulfites in Wine

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Ever seen the label on a wine bottle that says 'Contains Sulfites' and wondered what that means? Well if you did you should probably have looked it up, maybe in a Wikipedia article. That's what I did.

Long story short, sulfites (also sulphites) are the name for many kinds of compounds containing the sulfite ion, many of which have the capacity to combat bacteria, specifically the kind that would create bad flavors in wine. There are a couple times that sulfites can be added. The first is in the initial picking process. Fresh grapes can be treated with sulfite compounds to kill bacteria and other unwanted yeast strains prior to being crushed and worked.  Also, as I mentioned sulfites can kill yeast, this property is good for stabilizing a wine as it's being bottled. Even if no extra sulfites are added grapes still naturally produce a small amount, as do many other things.

Now that you know what it's for, why should you care? Some people have a reaction to sulfites similar to an allergy, with symptoms like itchy skin, headaches, and difficulty breathing.

I expect that the cabernet sauvignon concentrate that I bought used sulfites to keep it from spoiling before I got it. The only way to be sure that no extra sulfites are added is to be in control of the whole process from picking to bottling.

For further reading I recommend this article by Bill Zacharkiw

Cabernet Sauvignon #1 – Production Diary

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August 1, 2008

Water – 11
Concentrate – 2 cans
Sugar – 8 cups (4 lb)
Yeast Nutrient – 5 tsp
Ascorbic Acid – 5/4 tsp
Acid Blend – 6 tsp
Yest (71B-112 Saccharomyces Cerevisiae) – 1 packet

Specific Gravity = 1.092

I see a note that says for white Wines. when racking should add 1/2 Campden tab/gallon.

Campden slows down yeast.

Yeast starter (for 5 gallon):

  • 2 cup water
  • 2 table spoon Sugar
  • 1/2 tsp nutrient
  • 1/4 tsp citric acid
  • 1 packet yeast

Mix, shake, add to must next day.

August 5, 2008

Have stirred must each day. SG = 1.006
Must is still bubbling pretty fiercely

August 10, 2008

Moved must into secondary. Nice purple color. added 6 capden tablets. added ~1 gal water to top off. Filled airlock with Gin.

August  16, 2008

Racked wine. added 1 cup water. Still smells of bread.

October 6, 2008

Racked cab, topped off with 1 cup of water.

January 6, 2009

Cab SG = 0.998
Cab has no noticable particulates. Should be stirred at each racking to release CO2.

January 24, 2009

Stirred Cab to release CO2.

April 28, 2009

Bottled the batch. Boiled #9 (45mm x 23mm) corks in water to sterilize. Filled two 3 L bags, 7 375 mL bottles, and 19 750 mL bottles. There was about 300 mL left. No sugar was added.
SG = 0.996 @ 75°F for a finished alcohol content of 12.97%

The tannins are very nice in this wine. The wine looks a little watery, and feels a little weak on the palate. I think that’s the kind of thing that aging fixes. There is still a fruity semi-sweet aspect that is pleasant and not overwhelming. It’s definitely right to characterize this wine as ‘young’.

I'm not sure how long to age the wine for. I suppose trial and error is the way to go.

Cabernet Sauvignon Bottling

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Powell and I bottled our Cabernet Sauvignon last night. We noticed very much that at this stage it feels like a young wine. It still tastes/smells a bit like yeast, which isn't necessarily bad.

The tannins are very nice in this wine. If I could do it, I'd probably like to have the same level in the scuppernong wine.

The wine looks a little watery, and feels a little weak on the palate. I think that's the kind of thing that aging fixes. There is still a fruity semi-sweet aspect that is pleasant and not overwhelming. It's definitely right to characterize this wine as 'young'. Did I say that already?

Overall, I'm pleased with this wine.  I'm excited to start another.

Sugar Snaps

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The sugar snaps are growing very well. Beans have a well deserved reputation for being hardy.

I think the tomatoes I transplanted into the rear garden have been eaten. of most of what I planted I can only see two pepper plants. With the season approaching I think I'll have to purchase a couple plants instead.

The corn is doing pretty well, it's about time to put the pumpkin seeds out.

Planting Seedlings

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I planted all of the plants that I had growing in the seed tray. Well, the ones that survived anyway. The tomatoes and peppers look like they are going to do really well.

I'm excited about my fruits this year. All except for one raspberry plant is doing really well so I should have a decent crop this year and a great crop next year. All of the blueberries look good and are flowering. The scuppernong vine has started to break out in leaves. I'm very happy to have my grape vine. I hadn't really expected to get one this year, much less one this large. If you haven't had the please of having a scupperong grape I highly suggest you try to find some this year. The seeds and tougher skins make them harder to just munch on like other grapes but it's worth it. They're like eating hot wings, after eating a bowl of them you're hands and face may be covered in juices and it will be totally worth it.

I haven't quite kept up with my calendar. I still need to seed the muskmelon and eggplant. Also, it looks like I won't have nearly as many tobacco plants as I had hoped. I'll try to seed a few more this year, but I don't expect to have very many.

Apple Tree Transplantation

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I transplanted the apple tree last week. It has obviously outgrown it's tiny pot. I probably should have moved it earlier, but I don't think it will have any problems going forward.

The apple tree had been kept indoors at a southerly facing window and was well acclimated to it. I'm attempting to harden it off by keeping it out doors in a place with mostly shade all day. I'll gradually move it to more and more sunlight.

3448290111_564d379f67The pot is filled with a mix of compost, seed starter mix and top soil. Once in the pot I watered it thoroughly.

Electric Lawn Mower

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This probably doesn't really fall under my gardening theme as clearly as some things might, but I wanted to mention it anyway.

This week a friend from work gave me his old electric Lawn Mower, at my favorite price, free. According to him the batteries aren't holding their charge very well anymore. If I have to I'll replace the batteries, other than that the lawn mower is in good condition.

Now if only I could make it remote controlled…