Solarpunk Farming

[–] CCMan1701A@startrek.website 1 point 4 days ago

I was surprise to find Driscoll's strawberries in China. They are local and tasty.

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 8 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Think I need to just get a big enough freezer so that I can pick and freeze a years supply of fruit when it's free to pick your own at around this time of year.

Already made a couple of apple/pear crumbles this year. Plus about 8L of plum mead.

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[–] khannie@lemmy.world 5 points 6 days ago (1 child)

Have you a recipe for this plum mead perchance? I've a couple of hundred sitting on a very productive tree that definitely won't get eaten and that sounds delicious.

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 6 points 6 days ago (1 child)

Not finished it and I made it up as I went along. My method has been:

Stew honey/water/plums and strain. Stewed to the point the plums easily pop so the juices should be extracted fairly well. Pour the liquid into a demijohn and add yeast, airlock on and let it ferment. It mostly finished fermenting in about a week, giving it a bit longer to clear up somewhat. Not going for fully transparent but I would rather just some haze instead of being nearly opaque.

Ideally use a hydrometer to measure how much sugar is in it if you are new to brewing, too much sugar and the yeast may struggle, too little and it will barely ferment at all. Or there are calculators online if you have an idea roughly how much sugar your ingredients have.

Demijohns and airlocks are nice to use, but you can get away with a plastic bottle with the lid slightly loose to let air escape. Just make sure it isn't completely sealed as air must be able to escape to prevent it bursting and making a mess.

If you have equipment to press the fruit for juice, I would consider trying that and adding honey to the fruit juice. If going for stewing, probably start with water and add honey after straining it, I had already mixed them from a previous experiment so I just went with adding the fruit there.

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[–] khannie@lemmy.world 2 points 5 days ago* (1 child)

Legend. Thank you. I do have some previous brewing experience but it was a long time ago. I might pit and boil and blend then more boil then strain if that sounds reasonable?

Think I've a hydrometer somewhere but honestly it could be a major hassle to dig it out.

Confident I'll give it a go though. Cheers!

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 2 points 5 days ago

Good luck! It should be fairly forgiving as the fruit adds a lot of nutrients compared to just honey. You can always add a bit of sugar/honey to sweeten it after its done, I usually do that several hours or a day before drinking as I don't stabilise it so if its left for a long time residual yeast could start fermenting again and build up pressure if left for too long.

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[–] MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 3 points 6 days ago (1 child)

Some fruits varieties are breed to be stored for a few months before consumed. They are obviously not the ones you usually pick up in a supermarket. There is also drying, which can last longer depending on how closed off the fruit is. Also jams, compotes and the like, which also easily last years.

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 3 points 6 days ago (1 child)

Well the plum mead could in theory last years. But I don't have enough bottles to rotate through for that.

Did recently order some more swing top bottles though, so I can store a bit more. So I can either let it age for longer or make less frequently in larger batches. I think it will bring my total bottled storage to 18L across several different sizes of bottle and I use 5L demijohns.

The new bottles are the smallest too at just 500ml each, might be better for experimenting with adding sugar at the end though. My partner only really likes sweet drinks and it would be nice to have something she can enjoy too.

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[–] MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 3 points 6 days ago (1 child)

I really like those tomato puree bottles. They are relatively cheap where I live(filled with tomato puree), have a big opening and those plop screw down caps. Something like this:

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 2 points 6 days ago (1 child)

How well do those lids seal again after popping them the first time?

I often leave mead and fruit wines for months at room temperature before consuming. I also really like swing top bottles though, would be curious how they compare for holding pressure even if the drinks I make are usually not intentional carbonated they are sometimes slightly just on accident.

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[–] MrMakabar@slrpnk.net 2 points 6 days ago (1 child)

They are water tight, when screwed down properly. You can also reseal them, if you fill something hot into them. In the end mead should be pretty stable thanks to the alcohol.

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 2 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Is it airtight? Oxygen would cause problems with mead after a while, would turn into vinegar.

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[–] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 1 point 4 days ago (1 child)

It's airtight before opening (otherwise the puree would go bad), so why not after?

Open question, but afaik jar lids don't have anything that breaks when opening them for the first time so I see no reason why it couldn't reseal if the interior air pressure is lowered below the exterior pressure again.

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 1 point 4 days ago (1 child)

I have often heard canning places say the seal is a single use thing. I think it moulds to the lid when first sealed and tightening it again doesn't actually seal it properly.

Although not being 100% sealed may still satisfy good enough. They used to store it in wooden barrels made by hand and that was good enough.

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[–] Tiresia@slrpnk.net 1 point 4 days ago (1 child)

Tightening it manually is very different from lowering the inside pressure. The latter causes the metal to deform to fill gaps that would stay open at normal pressure.

Many lids have a metal shape at the top that makes a popping noise when pressed if the seal is broken, but which doesn't make a popping noise when there is an airtight seal. If you reuse a jar that has one of these you would be able to check manually.

Hold up, why am I talking theoretically. I have a couple of those jars ready to go. I can just fill them with hot water and see if they seal up.

Ok, so I put 90°C water in a jar with a pop lid, tightened the lit, and let it cool down. First the lid bulged outward and I couldn't press it down (thermal expansion of the lid itself?). Then I could pop the lid down, but it didn't come up again. Finally, several hours later, the jar seemed tightly sealed. I couldn't pop the lid, and if anything it took more force to open than when I originally got it. The lid opened with a satisfying plop, like when unsealing it fresh.

So I think jars of the type I used are definitely reusable for airtight sealing and storage. If you want to know I used jars from the Dutch brand

Hak,

but I honestly think most metal-lidded glass jars will do.

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[–] HerbGrower@slrpnk.net 1 point 4 days ago

Not sure if that method is overly suitable for beer, cider, mead or wine though. Great for jams and chutneys.