Wine Tasting!

Now that we are into May, I can get the next batch of seeds sown, but when I looked at the rapidly diminishing bag of compost, rather than going for bean sowing which I really should be getting on with, I fished out a heap of brassicas seeds from the box instead.

I'm experimenting by sowing in modules – previously I have sown half a dozen or so seeds in 3” square pots & then pricked them out into individual pots which is a bit of a fiddle, but does make for really easy planting out; but maybe by sowing a couple of seeds in each module (note to self to be stern & hoik out the weaker seedling!) I will be able to skip the pricking out & still find planting out a doodle. We shall see.

So I have a 40 module tray with five modules of each of CABBAGE (negra & greyhound), BRUSSELS SPROUTS (Falstaff & Bedford filbasket), KALE (Sutherland), BROCCOLI (late purple sprouting), CAULIFLOWER (romanesco) & CALABRESE (Waltham). I also sowed a couple of the 3” pots with LETTUCE (little gem & mini green) before putting away a very meagre bag of compost – must buy another at the weekend.

I finally got round to bottling the parsnip wine today, then racked the rhubarb wine which is astonishingly clear given that it was only three weeks ago that I started it off. Whilst putting the parsnip wine away in the garage (not to be drunk until Christmas), I took stock of what I had in store, then chose a bottle of the ‘most mature’ to bring in for chilling & opening this evening.

It happened to be the first bottle of the pea pod wine, & I have a glass besides me as I type. I can report that it has a somewhat distinctive ‘nose’ – quite earthy, but not unpleasant, & with a definite hint of pea. That’s P-E-A before anyone starts making up their own jokes. I think that another 3 or 4 months in the garage will benefit it – it is rather robust – but it’s not bad though, & rather better than I’ve made it sound!