Cheenius’ adventures in homemade wine

More educational fun from Cheenius! Thanks, Cheenius!


What if you could make your own wine???

Well, Cheenius can’t. Or at least the initial attempt was slightly flawed. But, while it was nothing you’d want to force on anyone, Cheenius’ blackberry wine was actually drinkable, and talk about local! Check it out:

Cheenius had been scoping out a nearby empty lot with lots of brambles for some time. Last July she happily trespassed once the blackberries were ripe, and within an hour had a huge bucketful. These wild berries weren’t the tastiest, but Cheenius figured they had enough sugar to make alcohol and make her trespassing worthwhile.

The recipe was easy:

  1. Smash up berries
  2. Let them sit
  3. Add water, wine yeast and sugar
  4. After four days, strain with cheesecloth

straining the wine  becoming wine

Six months later you have something that tastes alcoholic, and with a teaspoon more of sugar to your glass, isn’t too much of a chore to drink. Rousing endorsement, for sure.

blackberry wine

OK, maybe you’re thinking this particular experiment wasn’t a success… and yet, Cheenius MADE ALCOHOL from scratch. That’s like playing God, people.

Suburban renewal

Guest post from Buzzy! Thanks, Buzzy!

Sometimes Buzzy likes to relax after a tough day of beekeeping, and what better way than with the most locavore tea she can find?   I was curious to see what I could forage from my own suburban lot, so I gathered dandelions from the lawn for dandelion tea.

I knew all parts of a dandelion were edible, and while a dandelion root tea has all kinds of medicinal benefits, the fluffy yellow flowers will work as well.

So, after a few minutes of picking, rinsing, and pulling out the little tufts of yellow petals, I packed them in a tea ball and allowed 5 minutes of steeping.  The result, with my very own honey, was a little like chamomile tea, and really quite good.