Happy New Year--do something green

Happy New Year to all the folks kind enough to take a gander at my blog...even if you are here just snooping into my life and what is in my future.

If your city has legalized beekeeping like the 5 boroughs of New York, let them know over at The BeeKeeper blog. This is a positive aspect from 2010.

Smith Electric Vehicles is British no more...the majority of ownership has come to America. This is great green news. This is a 90-year-old British company that produces Britain's "milk floats," the primary delivery system for dairy products in the UK. Here in the US, things are headed towards using these non-fossil fuel vehicles with orders for the vehicles being placed by some heavyweight US companies.

The company has developed a special niche – medium-duty electric box trucks – and it has orders for more than 200, including 176 for Frito-Lay and 41 for Staples. Other launch partners include Coca-Cola, AT&T and PG&E. They've all bought trucks, too, but CEO Bryan Hansel won't say how many.

2011 for us looks like a bright new beginning. My lovely wife is feeling much better and improving daily. New developments in her writing and books are soon to be announced. The Ties That Bind should reach publication this year, with any luck. She has also got her graphic arts website up and is working on book and Website trailers.

I am currently uncovering historical relics in our attic as I make some needed home improvements.

The best discovery so far, is a copy of the "Juvenile Instructor" dated December 1, 1891. Check out N-D girl's blog for more info.

This was the first illustrated children's magazine published west of the Mississippi.

Hoping for more as I clean out a section of the attic that seems to have been shut off since 1944.  I plan to seal and re-insulate this section, with the possibility of extending an existing room here as a writing studio for my wife.

Birds: Eggs in 7 nests right now, so I should start having babies any day. Still need to order bands for the old German owls and go pick up racing club bands from the club secretary. I am really excited about the old German owls, since I raised no babies from this breed last year. I have a pair of yellow lace that I am hoping will produce well, and a dun hen with the strawberry red cock to the right that should make some exciting genetic variables.

On another note, I had something occur this morning that I have never experienced before. I have a feather-footed Van Loon hen that I got from my friend Don White; he claims the trait comes from the famous 083 hen; Ken Christopher claims the feather-footed ones make the best breeders. I have been concerned the last couple of days that she may have become egg-bound as she had not laid after two weeks of being paired up. This morning, there were two eggs in the pen. Sadly, one had fallen out of the nest bowl and frozen, but she is sitting on the other. If anyone has had such an experience, share it with me, please.



Honey: If you are involved in beekeeping, make sure you follow the link above and share what your city is doing about legalizing beekeeping. And if you have a special honey, let me know...I would like to get some exotic honey to make into mead. Maybe cactus honey or orange blossom honey.

Wine by the Gallon

Someone asked me for my Backyard Blonde recipe after sampling it.

I thought I would share a good recipe for those that want to try making their first batch of wine. I would strongly suggest that if you don't have a mentor, you at least read a good book on winemaking. With the concentrates and products at your local winemaking supplier, you don't even have to get your feet dirty...unless you want to.

Before you run down to the supply store, read the book: you will save money by not buying what you don't need, and you won't appear to be totally clueless.

Some simple rules to remember before we get you started:

1. Keep things clean...the slightest contamination can ruin your wine.

2. Keep your fermenting wine in a place that it won't be jarred or disturbed...a warmer part of the house is best to keep the yeast doing it's thing.

3. You may have some run-over, so place your carboy on newspaper or old towels.

Remember, this is only a gallon, and it is going to take six months to mature. Don't promise ALL of your friends a bottle. You will probably only get four wine bottles in the end.


a one gallon carboy



For this starter recipe, you will need some basic equipment:

1 gallon glass (or food grade plastic) jug (a carboy)

1 air lock and rubber stopper that fits your jug (you can get by on this first one with a piece of cling wrap and a rubber band...but, you have to check it morning and night and release the CO2)

A funnel to transfer from the pan to the jug.

Something to stir your must...make sure it fits in the mouth of the carboy.



You need a lot of patience as it takes six months of time to let it age properly. You will be totally frustrated and turned off by homemade wine if you don't.

You will need to pick up a racking tube while you are at the supply store, too.

Ingredients:

1 quart grape concentrate (your own or store bought 12 oz frozen. I wouldn't suggest concord)

4 1/2 cups sugar

3 T lemon juice

6 oz frozen apple juice (make sure it is real juice)

3/4 gallon of water (boiled or distilled)



The other ingredients, you will have to get from a wine making supplier:

1 tsp pectic enzyme

1 tsp yeast nutrient

1 tsp tannin (you need this since you didn't use whole grapes)
3 crushed campden tablets (add after cooling)
1 packet wine yeast (I have my favorite, Red Star Pasteur Champagne, *don't add until 24 hours after mixing ingredients or you will kill the yeast*)



Add the sugar to one quart of water and bring to a boil. This allows saturation of the sugar, creating a syrup. Allow to cool and transfer to gallon jug. Add all other ingredients, saving the remaining water to top off up to the neck of the jug. Seal with an air-lock or cling wrap and a rubber band. This mixture is your "must" and is the basis for your wine. If you have a hydrometer, take a reading (you really don't need one this time around).

After your must has set for 24 hours, add the packet of yeast...you shouldn't see an immediate reaction, but watch it carefully over the next 12-24 hours if you are using the plastic and rubber band. Soon this will start to foam and you will know that your yeast is active. Stir the must daily for the first week. This is when you have the greatest threat of run-over.

One week after you have started your wine, it will be time for the first racking. This is accomplished by placing the racking tube all the way to the bottom of your carboy and creating a syphon to move the must to a different container, leaving the sediment in the bottom 1/4 inch. If you don't have a second carboy, you can temporarily put it in a gallon glass jar or in a bucket, then clean your carboy and transfer it back to the clean carboy. Top off with water up to the neck.

Rack your wine weekly for the first month, and then monthly until the final product at six months. We will talk about bottling and corking as the time gets closer.

Taste your wine (just enough to put on your tongue) to learn the stages of fermentation.



I hope this was some help for those that want to try this fascinating hobby.

Birds: Eggs are in the nest, 18 days from the time the second one is laid, you will have pipping on the eggs and squabs in the nest. At this time, you need to have your permanent club bands ready, because the babies have to be banded at 7-10 days.

Honey: Started two batches of wine this week, I will try and keep you updated with what I am doing to my wine and mead, so you can follow along with this new recipe.

Marriage...and there are those still fighting to stop it.

A friend brought my attention to an interesting editorial article this morning, about the end of marriage. The direction this article takes is that the ones who need marriage are kids. The article is in rebuttal to Time magazine's statement that marriage is on the verge of extinction. The article is well-written and explores the issue of unwed mothers in depth. The article does not touch upon several points directly, but alludes to them.

Is welfare a cause of this epidemic?
Are minorities at a greater risk for being unwed parents?

What about those who are fighting to get married? The article speaks only to the traditional idea of marriage, of a man and a woman, not those that are fighting to be able to marry their same-sex partner. This issue for me comes close to home because of the activities of the predominant religion in this area and its financial support and condemnation of same sex-marriage and gays in the recent past. I have already posted a blog on that topic.

This is not just an issue in this country. If you are in Kenya, the Prime Minister thinks you should be arrested for same-sex attraction. His spokesperson was quick to say that his speech was at a rally and it was taken out of context. The spokesperson said that he was only referring to the nation's constitution that forbids same-sex marriage.

I think when we read between the lines of these articles, it would seem that the issue reverts back to marriage not being a state-sanctioned contract so much as a religious ideal. That once again there is a shift in the beliefs concerning organized religion worldwide.

And just a reminder, be careful what you post on facebook...some have a hard time determining what is personal and what is acceptable behavior. There should be contractual separation of work and private life.

Birds: It's that time! If you want to have babies ready to band on the first of the year, you need to have your pairs together now. As previously mentioned, if you haven't taken the time to prep your breeders with 4 in 1 or 5 in 1 solutions...wait and take the time. Your young birds will come out the better for it, and your fertility rates will be up. Also consider a teaspoon of iodine per gallon of water to increase fertility in your older birds. Calcium is a key factor in making your hens produce good eggs, so increase the amount of grit with oyster shell this month.

Honey: We had a delightful night of wine drinking the other night--a bottle of mead, a late harvest reisling and of course a dip into the private stock of Backyard Blonde. Even my oldest daughter enjoyed the homemade wine.

The cost of Mead

Have you noticed a decrease in the number of honey bees in the last few years?  I have a friend that is a beekeeper...he even has a "watch hive" by his back door, but that's another story. My friend tells me, that there is a worldwide threat to honey bees...they are calling it Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), and they aren't sure what is causing it. Various reasons have been given which include exposure to genetically modified crops, pesticide poisoning, invasive parasites, malnutrition from pollinating vast tracts of crops with little nourishment, and the stress of being moved long distances
A report in Wednesday's edition of the journal PLoS ONE, claims that researchers have found a combination of a virus and a fungus that they believe is responsible for the massive losses of our honey bees.

A decrease in the amount of bees to produce honey, equates to a rise in the cost of honey...affecting the cost of producing mead.
The other catastrophic issue here is pollination, as bees are responsible for a major share of crop pollination in this country, and a good portion of the none-crop flowering plants as well...including century plants, barrel cactus, prickly pear, etc.  Additionally some of them are pollinated by bats, hummingbirds, moths, butterflies and flies.  There are concerns for these other pollinators...that whatever is causing problems with the honey bee population, may next be seen in these other populations.

Some strange efforts have been made to assist in the pollination of our crops, like the Beamer Bee...genetically created...You be the judge, it this real or just a pipe dream.

And how do we bring the cost of mead back down??







Birds: If you don't have the pigeon bug, you will never understand...if you have it, you can never get enough of pigeons.  What new threat is out there for our avian friends, much like CCD for the bees, could be Pigeon Circovirus.

Honey: The majority of this post is dedicated to the loss of honey bees and the pollination of crops and flowers...honey is really just a bi-product, and a tasty one.

Honey Wine

Backyard Blonde and Raving Mead

I wanted to share the latest on my wine making...I only made a gallon batch of mead in February, primarily because my 5 gallon Carboy (used for holding mead or wine) was being used for my Backyard Blonde...

I had to try the white grapes in my backyard and see what type of wine they would make.  One of the really interesting parts about making your own wine is you can experiment with all types of grapes and all kinds of fruit...and if it doesn't turn out, then you just don't tell anyone. 

Mead by the gallon was a real success...just ask those friends that helped me polish it off...oops, I meant to save a bottle for the rack and let it age a year.  Don't worry, I'll share the recipe before I am done...simple, and anyone can do it...you just have to have patience to wait 6 months before bottling it.  Another reason I like mead, is the various tastes it has while developing into a real honey of a wine.  This year, I used Clover Honey...local...and it was some really good stuff. 

Here is the recipe, but I would suggest that you visit your local wine/beer making supply store and get a book on wine making, read it and understand the sanitary precautions and make sure you have the supplies you will need before venturing further.  This recipe should make 4 or 5 bottles of wine in six months...depending on how much tasting you do as it ferments.  The real key to success with winemaking, is patience.  So, once you have all the basics understood try this recipe:

INGREDIENTS:
4 pounds Clover Honey
3 quarts distilled water or spring water...or worst case, you can boil tap water (make sure it cools before adding yeast, or you will just kill it)

Heat and blend until disolved, place in your gallon carboy, fill to neck of gallon jar with additional water if needed and allow to cool...once cooled, add

3 tsp acid blend
1 tsp yeast nutrient (not mandatory, but you can tell a difference in the long run)
2 crushed Campden Tablets

When solution is at room temprature, take your hydrometer reading and write it down...this will let you know how much alcohol you can expect to have in your mead at the end of 6 months.  Place airlock on neck of bottle and allow to stand for 24 hours.  After 24 hours add one packet champagne yeast. I used Lalvin EC1118 on this last batch.

Carboy Airlock

Stir daily for the next week. After a week, if you have never tasted a yeasty mead, this is your chance...there is really no alcohol present at this point, but you will get a feel for the flavor if you taste it monthly and see how it develops. 

Now, it is all a matter of waiting.

Wine Thief

Daily, tell your wine good morning and good night...not literally, but check on it.  Weekly, taste it (a drinking straw capped with your finger makes a good wine thief for this) and record your experience, it will help with later batches.  Monthly, "rack" your wine to another clean bottle (you will need two bottles and two air locks) and top off your wine with sterile water.

At 6 months, bottle it...if possible, try and keep a bottle to taste after a year...Mead actually ages better up to 5 years in the bottle...or so they tell me. I can't keep it around that long.

Disclaimer: these are the basic steps to making mead...if you don't understand basic winemaking and sanitary precautions, you may not have a good experience...visit your local wine/beer making supply store...ask questions and make sure you keep good notes for the next batch.