Tag Archives: Brenham

Mustang Grape Wine in 3 Easy Steps

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Back in December, I did a post that described the process for bottling our homemade wine.  In that post, I promised to do describe how we made the wine.  Well, here is that promise fulfilled.  Last year, we made 5 gallons of mustang (or muscadine) wine.  This year, we are making five more.  However, due to bit of luck, we are making 15 additional gallons of wine from the finest Spanish grapes grown in Washington County.  The method I use was taught to me by Marvin Marberger of Brenham, Texas.  Mr. Marberger uses an old timey method that has been passed down through several generations of his German family.  Mr. Marberger has been making wine for a long time.  He can make wine from just about anything that has juice.  Currently, he has 17 varieties in his house that include tomato, dewberry, peach and lots more.  The process that he (and I) uses has three simple steps and uses just three ingredients; juice, water and sugar.

The wine that is made through this method is a VERY sweet table wine.  While it is probably not going to win any awards, it is very drinkable.  I drink it over ice and my wife and female kids (I say kids, they range in age from 21 to 31) like it mixed with a little Sprite.  It is a good thing that my friends and family like this sweet, homemade wine.  One five gallon container makes twenty five 750 ml bottles of wine.  Since I am currently making 20 gallons of wine I am going to need to come up with 100 empty bottles and corks by Christmas!

My daughter and I are harvesting our wild grapes

Harvest – Mustang grapes are ready for harvest in our area around July 4th.  So, before we can head out to the Round Top 4th of July parade, we have to make sure that we have five to six gallons of wild grapes collected.  Mustang grapes seem to grow on just about every fence row in the county so they are very easy to find.  You should, of course, ask permission to pick from the land owner.  They are almost always happy to oblige and they love getting a bottle of the finished product as a Thank You.

Mustang grapes do not produce the large clusters that other varieties produce.  So, you are going to have to do a lot of picking.  This year it took about two hours for me, my wife, two daughters, and one son-in-law to pick the six gallons that are required for this recipe.  As an added bonus, I also picked up a pretty wicked case of poison ivy.

Picking out the leaves and trash from our freshly picked grapes

Once the grapes are harvested, mash them ASAP.  Do not wash them before you mash.  The yeast needed for the fermentation process is lying on the skins of those wild grapes and you will need it for this process to work.  It is not necessary to remove the stems before you mash.  Simply fill a five gallon bucket with the grapes and mash into a pulp with a wooden implement of your choice.  Some folks use a 2”X4”.  I use an old baseball bat.  You can use your hands or feet to mash the grapes but they have a very high acid content and you will wind up with very itchy hands and feet if you choose this method.  Once the grapes are mashed, cover tightly with clean cloth or plastic wrap to keep the bugs out.

My wife and daughter mashing the grapes

Primary Fermentation – Once your mashed grapes are covered you can put them on a porch or in the garage to let the initial fermentation process begin.  The natural yeast on the skins will begin to reproduce.  This creates carbon dioxide.  You will know that fermentation is occurring if you see bubbles coming up through the mixture or if you have a strong smell of grape juice permeating the area in which the grapes are fermenting.

This is what the “must” looks like when primary fermentation is complete. The pulp has risen to the top and the juice is in the bottom.

This process should be allowed to proceed for about two weeks.  During this time, the tannins and the color of the grapes are being transferred to the liquid.  As the process progresses, the pulp, stems, seeds and skins will separate and float on the top.  Sometimes a light mold will begin to grow on the top of this mash.  If you see any signs of mold, pull the liquid off immediately.

Secondary Fermentation- The last step in the process is when the wine is actually made.  First, siphon the liquid from the first step into a clean container.  I use a food grade, six gallon bucket purchased from a restaurant supply store.  Siphoning is important.  You want to reduce the amount of pulp and sediment that would be passed to the secondary fermentation container without the use of the siphon.  Once I have the juice pulled off, I check to ensure that I have at least six quarts of juice.

Here I am siphoning the juice into the first filter

After I ensure that I have enough juice, I begin filtering.  I have a large cone shaped colander used in canning.   I line this with cheese cloth and strain the juice from one container into another.  When this is done, I strain the juice a second time by lining the colander with a grease filter also purchased from the restaurant supply store.  If the second round of filtering contained a lot of pulp, I strain again.

The secondary filteration process

Now that I have six quarts of double strained grape juice in my food grade container (which has very handy measurements on the side), I add in the sugar.  This recipe calls for 10 pounds.  I pour the sugar directly into the juice and stir the mixture with a wooden spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved.   Once the sugar is dissolved, I add enough filtered water to the mixture to make the volume exactly five gallons in the food grade container.  Once this has been stirred again, I use a funnel to pour the five gallons of liquid into a clear plastic water bottle.

Here you can see the setup that I use for an airlock

Once the mixture is in the bottle it is time to add the air lock.  My airlock is very simple in nature.  I use a large, solid rubber stopper with a 3/8” inch hole drilled in the center.  I then feed an 18” length of clear, rubber 3/8” hose into the stopper.  Next, I fill a plastic water or coke bottle ¾ of the way full with water.  The lid of this bottle also has a 3/8” hole drilled in it.  Tape the water bottle to the neck of the 5 gallon water bottle and then feed the rubber hose through the lid and all the way to the bottom of the bottle.

And that’s it!  Once the airlock is in place, place the wine back on the porch or in the garage and let the secondary fermentation begin.  In two to three days you will begin to see bubbles in the airlock.  These bubbles are caused by the carbon dioxide that is being released during fermentation.

Your wine is ready for bottling when there are no more bubbles passing through the airlock.  This can take as little as two months and as long as five.  You want to be absolutely sure that all fermentation has stopped before you bottle your wine.  If not, you can literally get “explosive” results.

It does not hurt your wine to sit in the secondary fermentation container for several months.  Because of this, I do not bottle my wine until Christmas.  This ensures that the fermentation is complete and it also gives me a ready supply of child labor (since all of my “kids” come home for the holidays) to help with the bottling process.

Homemade wine is fun, easy and inexpensive to make.  You can start with zero supplies and create your first batch for less than $50.  The second batch will only set you back the cost of the sugar.  All of my friends love receiving our homemade wine as gifts.  Even though I enjoy drinking the wine, I really get the most enjoyment from giving it away.  And, at less than $2 per bottle, we can spread a lot of holiday cheer to a lot of friends without breaking the bank!

 

Preparing the Zone 9 Fall Garden

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Even though it was 106 yesterday, it is time to get your zone 9 gardens ready for fall planting. I have to admit, with all of the talk of water restrictions, I am debating how much of a garden I am going to have this fall. I really cannot imagine not planting a garden, but I do think that I am going to scale back. No row garden for me this fall. Instead, I will be doing all of my planting in my potager (if you are a reader of Texas Gardener magazine, check out this month’s article that details how I built my potager).

Carrots and lettuce love the cooler weather of fall.

Preparation – Before you plant, you need to get the garden ready. For me, this is a fairly simple process. I practice no till gardening in my potager. So, to get my beds ready I do the following things. Note: these steps work well for flower beds as well. Since most beds have a mix of annuals and perennial, they are typically no till as well.

1. Remove all plant material that is left over from the spring garden. If you have not pulled up those cucumber or pole bean vines, then now is the time to do it. Also, if there is plant litter on the ground, remove it and destroy it (burn if you can, haul off if there is a burn ban). Old plant litter can hold a lot of pests that can “bug” you in the fall and then again in the spring. Squash Bugs over winter in plant litter so DO NOT move this debris to the compost pile. The squash bugs will actually thrive in the warm compost environment and be ready for another invasion in the spring.

2. Remove weeds. Thank goodness, weeds are not as aggressive in the fall. A good weeding now will reduce the number of times you will have to weed in the fall and winter. If there are no seed heads on the weeds that you pull, go ahead and put them on the compost heap.

3. Fertilize. Since I grow organically, I fertilize with various forms of compost. I use primarily mushroom compost but I will occasionally add in composted cow manure, rabbit manure, cotton bur compost and an alfalfa and humate blend. All of these are good sources of nitrogen. However, for good flower production (and ultimately vegetable production) you also need phosphorus. I use rock phosphate. Also, don’t forget about the potassium. Potassium (or potash) helps plants use water. Clay soils generally have enough of this in our area. However, since we are in a drought, I am going to add a little supplemental potassium this year. The best source of potassium for the organic garden is greensand. You can also add wood ash but it is high in lime so it can lower your pH.

Cabbage, and all brassicas, thrive here in the fall

Planting – In my humble opinion, fall is the best time of the year to garden in Texas. The temperatures are falling to a bearable level, the rains generally pick up and weeds are not nearly as much of a problem. Also, my favorite vegetables are the brassicas that thrive in the Texas fall. Patty Leander creates the planting guide for the Travis County Agrilife Extension office.  Click the link below to see here updated planting guide for our area.

Texas A&M AgriLife’s Vegetable Planting Guide by Patty Leander

 

Turnips are a two for one deal in the fall garden. Both the turnip and the greens are delicious and nutritious.

How to Harvest and Cure Onions

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This past weekend, I pulled up 52 pounds of 10/15 onions.  Definitely my best onion harvest ever.  Now the question is, “What do I do with 52 lbs of onions”?  Since my wife and I are empty nesters, it is going to take us a while to eat all of those onions.  Especially when you take into account the fact that I just harvested an apple box full of shallots and I am still growing Egyptian Walking Onions.  I am sure we will be sharing with our kids and neighbors, but we are still going to have to preserve a large number of these onions.  Here’s how we preserve our onion crop:

10/15 onions in the potager two weeks ago

First, if you are new to gardening, you may wonder when to harvest or pull your onions.  The general rule is “Pull when the tops fall over”.  Below is a picture of what that looks like.  I believe in letting nature take its course.  I do not pull until 75% or more of the tops have fallen.  Once they fall, you can leave them in the ground for a week to ten days.  This starts the natural curing process.  However, do not leave them in the ground much more than ten days as that makes them susceptible to soil borne pathogens that can cause mold and rot in storage.  Just a little note,  I have heard several people say you have to cure onions before you can eat them.  This is not true.  Onions can be eaten at any time in their growth cycle (tops and all).  You only have to cure onions that you want to preserve.

The same onions from the first photo after their tops have fallen over

Once you have pulled your onions, spread them out in the sun.  Make sure they have room between them for air circulation.  I put mine on an old screen door up on saw horses.  The length of time varies.  If you pull them on a dry, hot day in Texas, then a few hours should be sufficient.  If it has rained recently, the onions moisture content will be higher and you will need to leave them out until the roots become noticeably harder than when they were harvested. 

Once they have completed this initial drying period, place them in a dry, shady place to allow them to complete the curing process.  Many people put them on their porch.  If you do not have room on your porch or in your garage, put them outside on a board or screen door to keep them off of the ground.  Place a sheet over them for shade.  Do not use plastic or canvas as this traps moisture.  You can cut the tops off at this time if you wish but if you do, leave about one inch of top on the onion.

Placing the onions on an old screen door. Allow plenty of space around them so they will cure properly.

While they are drying, turn them every few days to make sure they are drying evenly.  This part of the process can take two or three weeks.  You will know they are ready when the outer skins are papery and the roots are dry and brittle. 

Once your onion’s have cured, you can place them in mesh bags (or braid their tops together) and hang them in the garage for a little more drying.  If you are going to put them in a root cellar where humidity is high, you want to make sure they are as dry as possible.  Properly cured onions can keep for several months.  Check them often and discard any that are becoming soft.  If you see any sign of sprouting, eat them immediately, replant, or discard.

The Bee Queen

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My wife and I hiving our first package of bees

In addition to gardening, my wife and I are beekeepers.  At least we try to be.  Our first effort was a lot of fun and we learned a lot.  Unfortunately we did not learn enough to keep the hive alive over the brutal winter.  Since we both enjoyed the bees so much, and we really liked having them in the garden, we decided to try again.  In order to increase our bee’s chances of survival, we decided to get some help.  Last night we attended a meeting of the Central Texas Beekeepers Association. 

The meeting was packed.  We were very excited to see how many people keep bees in our area.  The speaker was McCartney Taylor from Austin (http://learningbeekeeping.com/).  He gave a very interesting talk on top bar hives.  McCartney has the largest YouTube channel about bees on the internet. 

The yupneck and the 2011 Bee Queen, Kaylynn Mansker

Another special visitor was the 2011 Bee Queen, Kaylynn Mansker.  I have to admit, I was not aware that there was an annual Bee Queen.  The Bee Queen is the spokes person for the Texas Beekeepers Association.  The Texas Bee Keepers Association has been serving beekeepers in Texas since 1880.  In addition to promoting bee keeping, the association provides scholarships and sponsors the annual Bee Queen.  In her role, she travels the state and spreads the good word about beekeeping at club meetings, schools and fairs.  Kaylynn was a joy to visit with.  She is very personable, knowledgeable and a great speaker (and who can resist getting their picture made with a pretty girl).  If you want to learn more about bee keeping, the Central Texas Beekeeper’s are hosting their third annual school on March 11 in Brenham.  Here is a link if you are interested in attending: www.centraltexasbeekeepers.org

We also met John and Wendy Rohan.  They are the owners of Rohan Meadery (www.rohanmeadery.com).  Until last night, I did not know what mead was.  Turns out, it is wine made from honey.  Many believe that mead was the first fermentated beverage enjoyed by mankind.  The Rohan’s make and sell small batch artisanal mead from their meadery in La Grange, Texas.  They use local honey that comes from Kenny and Wendy Reed of Bee Wilde Farm in Montgomery, Texas (http://beewilde.com/home1.html).  They also use 100% organic fruit in their flavored meads.  They brought three varieties for tasting and they were all excellent.  We cannot wait to visit the meadery and load up.  If you are in the La Grange area, stop by “The Hive” (their tasting room), take a tour and try their mead.  I promise, you will thank me for telling you about them.

Fig Facts

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My newly planted Alma Fig

The sad little twig that you see on the left will soon grow up to be an Alma fig tree.  A friend of mine propagated it and several other varieties and then handed them out to his friends.  Thanks Tim.  I love receiving “pass along” plants.

Botanically speaking, figs are members of the ficus family.  Some research shows that they have been in cultivation in the Mediterranean area for over 4000 years.  The first figs grown in the U.S. were brought to Florida by the Spanish around 1575.  Franciscan missionaries took the fig to California where the first orchards were developed in present day San Diego.  Those early orchards were comprised of “Mission” figs.  Mission is still one of the most popular varieties in cultivation today.

Figs have been grown in the South for as long as there has been a South.  When I was a kid, everyone’s grand mother had at least one growing in their yard.  One of my favorite childhood memories is sitting at the chrome and formica kitchen table in Streetman, Texas sipping hot tea out of a saucer while eating toast and fig preserves with my Pa and MaMomma.  To this day, I think of them every time I see a fig or a jar of preserves.

My wife's alma fig preserves

Figs are very easy to grow.  They grow as well in clay as they do in sand and they can tolerate that scorching Texas heat.  Plus, they are relatively easy to care for.  They don’t need to be sprayed and they don’t need commercial fertilization.  Feed your fig by constant mulching or with a top dressing of prepared compost.  Too much nitrogen will make figs split on the tree and will cause the fruit to have a watered down taste.  Figs can take some drought but they do like frequent water.  A large fig bush should be given about 10 gallons of water per week during the really hot months.

Alma is a relatively new variety that was created by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station in 1974.  It is a very tasty fig in a rather unattractive wrapper.  The figs tend to develop dark spots on their skins as they ripen that some say resembles a bacterial infection.  Regardless, the lovely amber colored flesh is very tasty.  It is great raw and it is well suited for canning.

Alma figs ready for canning. Note the dark brown blotches on the skin

Alma has a vigorous growth habit and it is an early producer.  It is not uncommon to get a nice crop from your first year’s growth.  Alma is not a closed eye fig.  However, it does develop a thick resin covering that keeps the dried fruit beetle at bay.  This greatly reduces the threat of on the tree souring.  Alma is a little frost sensitive and should not be planted more than 200 miles from the Gulf of Mexico.

Figs are relatively easy to propagate from cuttings.  Simply take stem cuttings from one year old growth during the dormant season.  Some people recommend treating with a rooting hormone and letting the cutting scab over before planting.  However, lots of old timers say you can just cut them and then plant them and they will be fine.  Figs can send up suckers from the ground level and these can be used as cuttings.  However, remember that figs are very susceptible to nematodes and cutting suckers is a good way to spread this problem.  Just a little FYI on nematodes.  They don’t like black clay.  So, if you are in area of clay soils, then nematodes will not be as big a concern. 

Figs can be pruned to grow like a tree.  However, this makes them a little more susceptible to freezing.  Unless you live on the coast, grow your fig into a bush.  The bushing habit will protect it from freezes.  If it does suffer some damage from a hard freeze, cut out the damaged wood in late winter or early spring.  Also, if you have a mature fig and it seems to be producing less and less each year, take your shears and open it up.  This will encourage both growth and fruit production.

Cheap Tomatoes

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A friend at work told me that she wanted to start growing her own vegetables as a way to cut down on her grocery bill.  I encouraged her to start a small garden but I warned her that she probably would not be saving money by doing so.  She was not to be deterred.  She had done the math!  She would grow tomatoes in hanging baskets that cost $19 each.  Since each plant would produce 10 pounds of tomatoes her cost would be just $2 per pound.  Any fool could see that was cheaper than what Whole Foods was charging for a pound of organic tomatoes.

After a couple of weeks I checked in on my friend to see how her hanging tomatoes were doing.  She was pretty pleased with all things horticultural, but she was a little dismayed about how much she had spent.  The two hanging bags set her back $38, soil and tomatoes were another $20.  Then she had to figure out a way to hang them.  Since her patio did not get enough sun, she fashioned a rolling support out of galvanized pipe and fittings and a patio umbrella stand.  This cost her another $100.  My friend had learned a very important lesson.  Gardening can provide you with many things.  Unfortunately cheap food is not usually one of them.

I am happy to report that my friend did not allow her initial start up costs to deter her gardening efforts.  In fact, she has now expanded her gardening operation and is successfully growing herbs and veggies in giant pots in her yard.  She no longer tries to justify her hobby as a money saver.  She now gardens just for the fun of it!  She is growing her own food, spending time out doors, reading books and talking to other gardeners.  She has definitely caught the gardening bug.

A lovely pot of chard and parsley at Thompson and Hanson’s in River Oaks

Watching my friend get so excited about gardening put me in a reflective mood.  I started wondering, “What is it about watching things grow that makes me, and countless others like me, kind of nutty?”  What exactly does gardening provide that makes us return to this pursuit year after year?  I know this, gardening provides me with a link to my past.  As I get older being connected to my history gets more and more important.  I also get the majority of my exercise and all of my sore muscles and back aches in the garden.  It gives me a place to express my creativity and it provides me with a window into the wonder of life.  Gardening relaxes me, humbles me and keeps me ever watchful and hopeful. It is place where I gather and pass on my knowledge.  I have talked to many gardeners and they all seem to agree.  The garden is a place where we invest our time, talent and resources.  We all receive many gifts from the garden.  Unfortunately, cheap food is not generally one of them.

Here are the links for the vendors mentioned in this article:

http://www.thompsonhanson.com/

http://www.gardeners.com/Outdoor-Planters/OutdoorPlanters_Dept,default,sc.html

Building a Potager

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I have a problem.  Actually, I have two BIG problems; black clay and coastal Bermuda grass. These two things have been a pain in my gardening side since the first time I tried to till a portion of an old coastal field and turn it into a vegetable garden. I live on a patch of blackland praire in Washington county Texas between Brenham and Burton.  Over the years I have tried everything to tame the grass and improve the clay. All of my efforts have fallen woefully short. The clay is still either sticky or hard as a rock, and the grass always returns.

Two years ago, I began experimenting with raised beds. I tilled up the clay and added about four inches of mushroom compost. This improved things somewhat but I still could not keep the grass out of the rows, and ultimately the beds. At this point I should point out that I try to be an organic grower. I am not yet 100% weaned off of my traditional ways, but I am now using about 90% organic methods to try and control my weeds and bugs.

My first raised beds

Last year, the additional organic material really started to pay off. The vegetables were great. I simply planted and applied a heavy layer of hardwood mulch. Then I declared war on the weeds and that sticky mud that invariably happens when you water around black clay. I laid down weed paper in the rows and covered this with bricks. I also tilled in beds around my garden fence. I filled those beds with daylilies and petunias and large planters. I also added the weed paper and hardwood mulch to these outside beds. The bricks worked great for controlling the mud. But the Bermuda came back with a passion. Evidently Bermuda and many other weeds, enjoy a little organic matter as much as the tomatoes.

I was now thoroughly frustrated with my grass problem. However, I did note my two big successes. The additional organic material was definitely paying off and the bricks had solved the sticky mud issues. Now I was determined to figure out how to get the weeds under control.

I started reading and I came upon two concepts that I hoped my help me solve both of my problems: square foot gardening (the Mel Bartholomew method) and potagers. Mel Bartholomew and his method of creating super rich soil and close quarter plantings seemed to hold some promise. As I read more about both topics, I began to feel that combining Mel’s ideas about soil and close quarter plantings with the French concept of a kitchen garden might finally give me dominion over the weeds and the mud.

A real French potager

The term potager comes from the French term jardin potager. The potager is designed to provide all of the vegetables, herbs and flowers for a household. The potager is not just functional; it is expected to be beautiful as well. Because of this, annual and perennial flowers are grown right along with the vegetables. Plants in the potager are often selected as much for their form and texture as they are for their nutritional value.

Another thing that I have learned about gardening (or any other endeavor for that matter) is that it helps to have a plan. Since the creation of my potager would require an investment of time, talents and money, my wife insisted I have a detailed plan. I was lucky on this one. I am currently taking a Landscape Design class with Casey Krueger at Texas A&M. With his help, I created a very respectable and doable design for my potager.

Day 1 – Armed with my plan and an army of future son-in-laws (I have four daughters so I really do have a small army of future son–in-laws), we literally dug-in and started to build. First, we built the forms for my raised beds. This required a few carpentry skills, a few basic math skills, and a lot of manual labor.
Day 2 – Since the beds were now in place, we began to dig out about five inches of soil from the bottom of all of the walk paths. After this was done, we covered the walk paths with approximately 8 layers of newspaper and five inches of decomposed granite (take that weeds!). We then laid the bricks. Once the bricks were in place, we added a thin layer of decomposed granite to the top and used a broom to work the granite dust into the gaps between the bricks. After a good watering, the unplanted potager was ready to go.
Day 3 – This was the day for soil preparation and planting. To prepare the beds I used a modified version of Mel Batholomew’s formula. Since my clay has no problem holding water, I left out the suggested vermiculite and peat moss. What I did add was compost peat, cotton bur compost, farm style composted cow manure, mushroom compost, and an alfalfa and humate mix. I bought all of these items from the Plants N Things nursery in Brenham, Texas. We mixed all of these ingredients together on a couple of big tarps. Once it was mixed we wheel barrowed it into the raised beds. Finally, we used my Mantis tiller to mix it all into my existing soil. Now it was time to stick things in the ground. I planted tomatoes, squash, watermelon, and bronze fennel that I had purchased from the Texas A&M Horticulture Club’s Annual Plant sale. I also planted Contender bush beans, Swiss chard, sunflowers, apple and egg gourds, Chinese long beans, and Hyacinth beans for the trellis. One bed stayed intact throughout the build. In it I have onions, shallots, radishes and lettuces. Once all of the seeds are up I will again put down about six inches of hardwood mulch.

My unplanted potager

I am very excited about the promise my new garden. I am hopeful that the granite base and the bricks will keep the weeds and the mud at bay. I also believe that if a few weeds do pop up in the raised beds they will be easy to pull. Remember how I said I was about 90% organic? Well I hope to keep that percentage. However, after all of the time and effort that went into this potager, I have decided that organic or not, at the first sign of a weed invasion I am buying weed killer!

A version of this article was published in the May 2010 issue of “Hort Update” (http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/newsletters/hortupdate/2010/may/)