New Hop Bines and Blackberries

Just wanted to post a few pictures I took today of my hops and blackberry bushes.  As I have said before, my hops have been kind of lacking in growth.  My Nugget just stopped growing, but the leaves were big and green. The Sterling quit growing, started to wilt, but some days it looked like it was coming back.  Both have begun new growth this past week.  Two new bines came out of the mulch from the Sterling, which I will tie to the rope, and new leaves have sprouted from both the Nugget and Sterling along with vertical growth in the Nugget.  All is well it seems.

New vertical growth on the Nugget

Two new bines coming out of the Sterling.  One in front and one in back.

Upclose of Sterling new growth.

You can see the different colors of green.  The new growth is lighter.  The old wilting growth is dark green.

    The blackberries are doing very well.  I am still looking for the proper wire for the trellis system.  Lowes did not have it, I may need to look at a contractors store.  Berries are growing and green.  See below.

Tripled in size since it was planted.

Flowers and berries about to bloom.

Largest bush so far....it direly needs a trellis.

That is all for now.

-Matuz-

A Few Things....Beer and Wine

    This week I should be receiving a book I ordered titled, Principles of Brewing Science: A Study of Serious Brewing Issues by George Fix.  It is kind of the next step in the science of brewing books that I have wanted for a while.  After that there are a few others that I have been seeing pop up on the homebrew forums.  I also found a PDF of a brewing science book on one of the forums.  I am going to check copyright issues before posting the link and downloading it myself.

     Tasted one Rye ale on mother's day.  THIS BEER KEEPS CHANGING AND GETTING BETTER!!!!  I don't know about you guys, maybe it is the Polish heritage in me, but I LOVE rye bread.  And this beer taste more like rye bread than ever!  After this last taste test, I have locked it back up.  The only key now, is a wiffle ball game in a downtown park,  coupled with first pitch Cardinal baseball tickets.

    My hops quit growing....well they are not done growing, I don't think, but they have halted for a time at about 5.5 ft. I was reading through the forums and posting this very topic.  It could be several things:

1. Been to rainy lately....too much water. 
2. Roots are now working their way through the tough soil that surrounded the soft soil it was planted in...so it is taking more time.
3. They are not technically first year(since they were in a pot at Irish Rover's), but they were in a pot, so full potential may not be had yet.
4. Maybe not enough sun.....I plan on cutting three more trees this summer...two of them I may have an actual company come out and cut.(I am not a pro, and the house is near them.)

Nugget

Sterling

    Blackberry trellis materials are at my place now.  Just need to buy the wire, pound in the stakes, and train them.  Each plant is growing, one is ready to be trained, the others may not reach the wire for another month or so.

I'll keep you all updated.


-Matuz

Inspiration

Knowing little to nothing about winemaking and having some leisure time during a Christmas break, I sought the advice of my fiance's grandfather, who has been making wine since the mid 1960's. He showed me some tricks, how he stores his wine, and a basement that contains old metal cabinets full of wine from the past four decades.

Grandpa's winemaking process is notable to me for many reasons:

1. He was an apprentice to no one except text. He learned how to make his first batch of wine by going to the local library and copying down old recipes from books. He is a heavy advocate of 'winging it'.

2. He now uses only the fruit he has grown in his garden with his wife. He is in his mid-80s and still doing it the same way.

3. No preservatives or chemicals have ever been used in his wine. After he sanitizes, he uses only hand-pressed fruit juice, sugar and water. When the first batch aged and he drank it, it didn't kill him, and that told him chemicals were unnecessary. At Christmastime, I tasted from a bottle made in 1978. I am indeed alive and I get a goofy grin anytime I recall the taste of it.

4. All of his wine is excellent: The strawberry wine, the gooseberry wine, the muscadine wine. It is as good as, or better than, any wine I've purchased at a store.

5. Most of it is semi-sweet to sweet and it is consumed during family gatherings, much like coffee is served in other places, during a late night family card game. Never have I seen anyone plow through a glass of it. It seems to be an unspoken rule that it is to be enjoyed slowly.

This in mind, I have a lot to learn through trial and error over the next several years. My fiance and I plan to toil in our own garden and work toward our own little plot of Wine nirvana and we hope our friends will be joining us for years to come.

Coming next from me will be a story-so-far description of my first attempt at a blackberry wine.