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Old 05-05-2003, 02:08 PM
Rocks
 
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Default Worms revisited

Hello Janet,

"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Rocks" contains these words:

BTW in a long past lurk there was a conversation between you and Janet

(Hi
Janet. I am moving house! you are moving a farm, The mind boggles!)


No I aint...thank goodness. Lawrence calls his few acres a farm, I
call mine a big garden :-)

I've narrowed it down to only 300 plants in pots that are coming with
us,(and the dog and cats). The hens are staying here.

What has John narrowed it down to? . My narrowing does not seem as
effective (or narrow) as Sheena's! What would I do without all my power
toys?
A relatively complete selection of my plants has gone to Len & Bev's for
babysitting during the transition for the move (thanks Len & Bev, I will try
to replace the Chinese Water Chestnuts that your bloody wild ducks have
eaten ) For the rest I am moving in 40' shipping containers (two so far
and, I hope, not a third) which will be (modified and) retained as a
workshop and (hopefully) a cool room for preserving and storing food. (I
can dream, if I can afford it

Congratulations on your move to Arran, (I am (enviously) very impressed)
That is a truly
beautiful place. Sheena (coincidendally) has plans to visit Arran next
year. She is going to visit with an old school friend (in Dumbarton) who
insists that a visit to Arran is mandatory and plans to take her there on
the trip.

Glad I'm not packing a vinegar mother; that sounds as if it would join
the long list of "potential hazards" that our removal company won't take
on the island ferry :-(.

This is certainly an extreme difficulty in moving overseas but if you
need anything, please do not hesitate to let me(us) know. We will do what we
can to assist.

Regards, Ted.



  #17   Report Post  
Old 05-05-2003, 02:08 PM
Rocks
 
Posts: n/a
Default Worms revisited

Hello Fran,

"Fran Higham" wrote in message
...
"Rocks" wrote in message
I am seriously into packing mode for the forthcoming move


Good luck with it Ted - such a stinker of a job, but it does declutter a
place marvellously!

Declutter??? Girl's are certainly different from boys! There are boxes
everywhere. It is virtually impossible to move in the house. I have started
to buy those plastic storage boxes so that they can be stacked outside
without risk of rain damage. (some rain would be nice).

Thanks for the offer Ted. I may hold you to it. I have fed my foul brew
too much of Himself's good red to want to continue with that particular
experiment - I threw it out yesterday! (For months I've been filching a
glass to feed my brew from his good red wine from every newly opened

bottle
whilst his back is turned - he has been complaining that he can't be
drinking it THAT quickly and I just look vague and make reassuring "Can't
you Dear?" noises. If I drank I'd end up a suspect. It would be far

cheaper
to just buy the stuff than to make it at in the manner in which I've been
attempting it.)

I won't dob!! Is there a possibility that you have been too generous with
(Hubby's) alcohol. Alcohol is a boicide (and an excellent preservative). If
you are using a standard (14%) wine, then it would be convenient to dilute
it by half, (ie an equal quantity of tank water). Any percentage of alcohol
equal to or less than 8% should get a 'mother' growing. Higher than 10% will
certainly kill it.

My next attempt will be to 'produce' vinegar on a
continuous
basis from raw materials, That is, anaerobic fermentation and aerobic
acetification (similar to the system I use for the compost tumbler). I

have
some reservations but think it could work with tall, deep fermenters and
maybe a non-sporing (splitting) yeast.


What do you mean by a non-sporing (splitting) yeast? The 'mother ' on my
cider vinegar was a solid pad of leather like consistency. Is this what

you
are describing? Remember you are talking to someone who is useless at
science (or Maths) so words of one syllable of less would be appreciated

(or
descriptions are sometimes good as my brain works well on images).

The 'mother' is as you describe (although a fresh, active one is more like a
souffle omelette than leather). My apologies for the wandering. The yeast is
required to convert the fruit/vegetables to alcohol before the 'mother' is
added to convert the alcohol to vinegar. Most yeasts produce spores which
would settle to the bottom of the fermenter and form a sediment, which would
need periodic removal and interrupt the 'continuity' of the system. If I can
find a yeast with a low or zero sporing potential, I could (in theory) set
up a fermenter that would continuously produce vinegar from the addition of
scrap fruit/vegetables. In the meantime I will probably just put another tap
in the top (aerobic) part and draw the vinegar from there.

But what are the poor chooks going to eat then? I like pickles but I must
admit there is a limit.

Ah there's the rub! I had better get this system trialled before I get
chooks

BTW, if you are reading Len, I have been eating the pickled eggs and quite
enjoying them - not raving about them but enjoying them.

I'm the same. I may give Len's cider vinegar recipe a try, but otherwise I
dont think I will bother again.

I think on
balance I'd rather turn the eggs into rich fruit cakes and store tehm that
way. Himself likes fruit cake but won't even go near the pickled eggs.

Fruit cake pickled in brandy! Sheer Heaven.

I don't venture into those hot climes unless there is a swimming pool and
air conditioning in the immediate locale. If that is on offer then I'll
take you up on it - otherwise you'll need to move to a more civilised
climate before you'll see me :-)

A regrettable impasse, since I am attempting to become less civilised I
have therefore decided to dispense with the bull and have bought two cows
with calves (one male, one female) and one heifer.

What exactly did we say about jam pots? I remember talking about jam
cooking pans with Tara (specifically copper, wide flat ones, but
maslins???? - nada!)

That's the one. The jam pot/cooking pan you described is called a maslin. I
used the name to save typing the description.

Regards, Ted.



  #18   Report Post  
Old 05-05-2003, 02:08 PM
Fran Higham
 
Posts: n/a
Default Worms revisited

"Rocks" wrote in message

What has John narrowed it down to? . My narrowing does not seem as
effective (or narrow) as Sheena's! What would I do without all my power
toys?


Hint: Threaten to narrow down some of her embroidery threads and fabric
stash and see if that makes her more co-operative (very evil grin!)




  #19   Report Post  
Old 05-05-2003, 02:08 PM
Fran Higham
 
Posts: n/a
Default Worms revisited

"Rocks" wrote in message

'D' day approaches and this computer will be dismantled and packed in the
next two days.


Ted

All the best for the move and the new place. I haven't yet had a chance to
reply to the wonderful last post you did on the vinegar mother and my
feeding of my batch. My apologies for that but you see I too have been
extremely busy (with work and also with trying to sell this place - more on
that at some other time). I have taken the advice on board and printed it
off as it is obviously more useful info that the pack of poo tickets advice
I found somewhere on the net.

All the best to you and Sheena. We will make sure Cap'n Blood keeps us
updated on your progress.


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