PYO Fruit Farms

[fermentall]

Local pyo fruit farm is selling Red/White currants at 90p a lb and Raspberries the same.Approx 15 lb of these fruits will make a quality country wine of 30 bottles.Cheap for a quality wine so if you have a pyo farm near you get out with the Mrs & Kids for an hour or so and enjoy yourself. :

 

[Dieseljockey]

To right PYO is great more folk should do it :thumb:

 

[corby_brewer]

We have one in Geddington, just about 4 or 5 miles from us. thimk ill pay them a visit

 

[Moley]

Quite right (although don't bother with the strawberries), and it's usually 3-4lbs of fruit to the gallon.

Even so, it won't be too long until there's plenty of free stuff along the country lanes, riverbanks and canal towpath, so keep your eyes peeled and get scavenging.

 

[Dieseljockey]

10-Roger on that Moley....I've eyeballed apple trees & elderberry in the lanes around us. :thumb:

 

[snail59]

riverbanks and canal towpath.

Moley your not planning an EEL & CARP WURZELS are you :shock:


Ive got my eye on a rather impressive Cherry Tree and a large Bramble patch in our yard at work :thumb:

 

[Moley]

Now you're just being silly Snail, I will leave those for the Eastern Europeans.

I'm talking about blackberries, plums, greengages and damsons, then elderberries, sloes and rosehips, all for free, giving wines at 20-30p a bottle.

 

[Taf]

I'm talking about blackberries, plums, greengages and damsons, then elderberries, sloes and rosehips, all for free, giving wines at 20-30p a bottle.

Hi Moley. I made some great cider last year with the addition of raspberries, blackberries, elderberries, sloes. Freezing my pickings, until I had about 1.5 KG of mixed berries for a 5 gallon batch, and they really made it special. I fermented on the pulp for a about a week or so, before racking off and topping up. I haven't used rosehips, but would like to do so, as they are everywhere I look. Would I treat them like any other fruit, or would you make some sort of syrup to extract all the goodness out of them. It's just that I seem to remember making itching powder out of them, when I was a kid, so just want to check the best method, or can I just chuck them in with the rest of the fruit? I don't blend my fruit, so they would stay intact.

Cheers,
Billy.

 

[Moley]

Hi Billy,

Freezing is good, it breaks up the cell structure and gives better juice extraction :thumb:

I will be picking a pound or so of blackberries every day to my way to or from w**k and they all get washed and frozen until I've got enough.

Rosehips go a long way, it only needs 2lbs to the gallon for wine, but that's a helluva lot of the little blighters. The cultivated kind are available first, I cut those off as close to the stalk as I can then twist off the fluffy bit with my thumb nail, wash and freeze.

The cultivated ones are quite soft and prone to insect attack, Look for puncure marks. When you've twisted the top off, look inside every one, if they are a bit grey, split them and look for tiny maggots. You will soon get to recognise the danger signs.

The wild ones come on much later, and should ideally be picked after the first frosts. These are much tougher and insect resistant. I snip the tip off with kitchen scissors and split them before freezing.

You can make a syrup if you like, google for the method, but I've never bothered.

 

[Ken L]

Lots of bullaces along the river in addition to the sloes. Plenty of damsons and even a wild green plum but I have yet to spot greengages. Elderberries are proving hard to find in numbers and I may have to resort to picking them along the canal in Smethwick to get the quantities that I want.
I'll wait for the blackberries. I have three thornless plants to go in and they will produce heaps of fruit once they're established.