"Jeßus" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:34:07 +1000, "FarmI" ask@itshall be given

I've jsut been reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstalls cookbooks and am now
quite interested in planting Bramleys given how highly he praises them as
a
cooking apple. He's also into cider apples and has piqued my interest in
them too.

LOL, one of my nearby neighbours refers to me a 'Hugh'.

:-))

I pretty much
grow and cook the same things as he does. So now I have a Bramley and
two Granny Smiths - should take care of my cooking apples needs.

I'm also into cider making (hence the cider trees) , I quickly
realised any/all cider kits left much to be desired and that you can't
beat cider made from fresh, local apples. I've learnt that higher
alcohol by volume isn't necessarily such a good idea, my batches from
last year average 12% and any more than a couple of stubbies is
usually too much for me... I actually _don't_ enjoy getting ****ed
even though I do like to drink

I can't see that attraction in getting ****ed either, but a good drink
(either alchoholic or non) is well worth doing.

I make beer and spirits also, and other stuff like cherry wine, ginger
beer and perry. Although this year I've been concentrating on making
mead, which is a much longer term proposition - and considerably more
expensive. My last 30L batch using local Leatherwood honey cost me
about $80... now I just have to wait a couple of years...

Well that's cheaper than the 10kg batch of salami I've just hung :-))


I'm going to need a pot still soon, as I especially want to make apple
cider brandy and cherry brandy. Also want to put through some
alcoholic ginger beer and see what happens. And of course, some spiced
mead liqueur once she's aged enough... yum.

Although I have a still, its a conventional type which means that
it'll strip any colour, smell and flavor from anything put through it,
a pot still doesn't do that, hence the need for a pot still.

Interesting. What is the difference between a conventional vs a pot and
where does one buy such a thing in Oz anyway? I have seen a very neat
little still in a brew shop in Mildura, but I wouldn't know it was a pot or
a conventional one.

We ahd a fantastic year for pears this year and the chooks have only just
finished cleanign up the drop from under our last netted tree. Watching
the
rooster 'telling' the girls about the where they could find the best bits
of
pear was wonderful to watch. He's such a lovely rooster and worth every
penny of his high price tag.

Lucky you - my oldest fruit trees are only about 3 years old, though
the cherries, prunes and quinces have fruited surprisingly well
already.

I hope we (here in TAS) don't have another odd spring, summer and
autumn... it was quite mild last year and did strange things to some
crops. Already many trees here are budding, which is a little early
once again. Hmm.

That does sound early. I can't see any signs of budding yet, but I'll now
pay closer attention.


We've had a mild winter really (by local standards), had a few -6's
with hard frost but nothing like 2008 and '09. I hope we don't have
another mild spring/summer/autumn again, nice weather for humans but
not so great for flowering and fruiting plants.

We've had quite few low temps and the mornings seen to be worse this year
than we've had for a while, but perhaps that is just me getting older and
feeling it more. I think I'm becoming more like a lizard as I get older - I
now like to bask in winter sun.