Pioneer Woman at Heart

One Flourishing, Frugal and Fun Family!

One family learning to live off the land, cut back on expenses, and to live a simpler and a more self-sufficient lifestyle.

Adopted Motto

"Eat it up,
Wear it out,
Make it do,
Or go without."
~A Pioneer Sampler, by Barbara Greenwood~

Monday, October 3, 2016

Poof! Tomatoes and Pears have disappeared....Tomatoes re-appeared!

This is how we began our pear wine - pears were seeded and stems removed.  We purchased a wine sieve bag to place in our 6.5 fermenter.  We had just enough pears to fill this half-way, which was about 23-24 lbs. of pears.  We added one cup of sugar for every pound of pears (approximately), then poured boiling water over, with enough water above pears.


We let it cool over night, and will add the yeast today. The lid is on with a 3-piece airlock (they also sell double "S" shaped ones, but this came with our basic equipment kit.  Kit also came with a 3 gallon carboy (vs. a 6).  We may end up having to purchase another 3 gallon carboy.  The kit came with 3 gallon, so we see what happens.  Most recipes use a 6 gallon.  I should have read more recipes, but the comments on the kit said that most people bought it for pear wine making and it worked great.

We'll let this sit for 3 1/2 weeks before the next step.  I'll be honest, I'm not sure what recipe we are using.  First, I told Hubby he was to check for one, write down everything we needed from the wine store, and when we started slicing pears, he had no idea which recipe he got the ingredients for.

I thought we were using the recipe from Grit Magazine (Pear Wine), and so did he, but we were missing one ingredient in their recipe.

So, this is why we went with the "boiling water" recipe.  We read through comments, and the boiling water will kill anything and start the process.  There was some concerns on the powder they send in the kit that is used to sterilize as well, so boiling water was the choice.

It's all trial and error for this first time at wine making.

I guess we'll see how this goes, but on a positive note, you can't really mess up wine.  I'm told every batch will taste different, but "wine wants to be wine."  Unlike the work that it takes to make beer, wine is much simpler (I'm told).

The pears are now all off the table top, and so are most of the tomatoes.  I canned another 5 - half pints of ketchup yesterday, and went out and took a look-see at the garden.

Oye.

I brought in another 23# of tomatoes.  That makes the grand tomato tally a whopping 388.74# this season.  


Today, I'll let those tomatoes ripen on the table.  I have a lot of green peppers to wash up and blanch today.   Then I need to check the current status of the dirt out in the garden.  I haven't dug up the remaining potatoes yet.  And due to Hubby's current condition, we purchased a potato/onion bin vs. him building one.  It's being shipped and will arrive in time for those potatoes and onions.


4 comments:

Mama Pea said...

Pear wine! Wa-hoo, sounds good to me! Keep us up to date on how it's coming along.

I don't know what your ordered potato/onion bin looks like, but those two veggies should never be stored in close proximity as the onions (or apples) exude ethylene gas which makes potatoes sprout and spoil easily. We store our onions in the basement which stays at about 52 degrees all winter and our potatoes are stored at one end of the root cellar and our apples at the other which seems to be far enough away to avoid any problems.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Mama Pea, can apples be stored next to potatoes? The bin is side by side vs. stacked up and down. There is a piece of wood in between them in the bin. Should I store the onions elsewhere?

RB said...

You sound so busy. I hope you're taking time to sit a spell now and then.
Continuing in prayer for hubby.
We have a hurricane headed our way, so we'll be on the computer hit and miss through the rest of the week as we batten down the hatches here at home and work extra hours at the store to help out with the rush on emergency supplies there.
Prayers ya'all have a great week, and a safe one too.
God bless.
RB
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Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

thanks RB