Reading

Reading consumes a large part of our spare time. There is just so much out there to uncover. Beside the bed we both have piles of books many have book marks indicating they are a work in progress. Reading is not always a linear process as much as we try to make it work that way. Moods and information needs drive the sequencing.

Take for example The Revenge of Geography by Robert D Kaplan, barely 300 pages of fascinating history and insight. But then a trip to the library yesterday yielded a few more books that had been put on hold. One was 299 Days by Glen Tate. The first in a series of fiction books on Preparation and Survivalism.  Just too good to ignore and it was devoured overnight. A good read, some writing style improvement required but that should come as there are half a dozen in the series. A good story is hard to put down. So now back to Kaplan for the moment.

Jean's choice of relaxation before sleep is Enid Blyton's Famous Five. A rollicking good time in 20th century English country side by five children. Designed entirely for the mind to escape reality. We collected the entire series second hand and Jean is working her way through them. I'd read these as a child and when cleaning up my mother's estate found a couple of old red hard covered copies which we kept as a memento of a childhood. Jean discovered them and now moves there every night.

In between there are the Gardening Australia and Winemaker magazines. A friend passed on a large pile of earlier editions Grass Roots and Earth Gardens. Another friend subscribes to New Scientist and loaned us a mound of copies. These are an excellent read over morning tea and generate lots of ideas.

In the office beside me on the floor is a pile of books collected from the disposal table when the Raymond Terrace Library relocated last year. Gradually between other library loans we work our way through these piles.

Then of course there is our own library at HHF. Many decades of accumulation from times of formal education and casual reading. Quite a few metres of shelving covering a number of walls.  Every couple years we try to thin down the collection but it's difficult. There are so many reference books and works that just need to be read again and again.

And one library system is never enough. As well as the Newcastle Regional library which consists of Newcastle, Port Stephens, Gloucester and Dungog we are also members of Lake Macquarie Library. This is to have access to some books our own library system doesn't stock.

And of course being a former University of Newcastle employee of many years there is Jean's access card to their collection of reference material and generous loan periods. I'm guilty of borrowing a truck load of material on a particular topic when interest becomes intense. There is even a signed note from Jean in my wallet confirming her approval for me collect books on her behalf.

Just looking on the desk beside me I see a piece of paper listing other books by Kaplan and some texts by authors referenced in The Revenge of Geography. Attached to the paper is Jean's Uni library card.  The trouble with reading a good book is that it generates an enthusiasm that  launches you down a path that leads in many directions.

Just as well there are plenty of inclement days each year to provide scope to manage the demands of reading.

Valley Readers

Jean is toying with the idea of starting a book club. There is at least one book club in the area but it is fully subscribed with 12 members.

Book clubs tend to follow a common format of meeting each month and discussing a single scheduled book that has been chosen by a participants at the previous meeting. Many libraries support book clubs by acquiring multiple copies of the book in advance. In return they ask the club to donate at least one or more batches of books during the year.

The advantage of this format is that it encourages the club members to read more widely and exposes them to different genres. This can be both fun and challenging. Especially challenging if confronted with a tome of epic proportions that is not to your liking.

Hence Jean's concept change for the proposed club.

Recently while visiting a friend she found the friend engrossed in a book and taking copious notes. After some enquiry Jean obtained a copy from the local library and is now also engrossed in its contents.

So why not a reading club where the participants bring along a book they have recently read and take a few minutes to describe its contents. An opportunity to hear about different books, examine the book and share some community time.

Does anyone out there attend a book club? Any other suggestions?

Research, Reading and Resting Followed by Home Brewing

The weather report looked good i.e. it was going to be warm, humid beyond belief and thunderstorms. Perfect! At least perfect to sit around and perform the first three functions in the title.

A friend of ours refers to research on a regular basis. In fact for her it means read a book but it sounds good. Today I read a book or in truth three books.

First up was a library book on gardening by Bob Flowerdew which had some really fine explanations on the needs of vegetables. We have lots of books on growing vegetables but not everything you need to know is in one book. Hence we have a rather thick hard covered exercise book entitled "Jean and John's Vegetable Book" It is kept in the kitchen near the fruit bowl for easy access. Every time we learn something new about a vegetable it goes in the book.

So there you have it a summary of all knowledge in one place. In the front few pages double spaced is the A-Z list of vegetables i.e. one vegetable every second line. Then when there is something to be said about a vegetable we look up the page number and make comment. If there is no page number next to the vegetable we take the next available blank page, add the comment, title the page and place the page number against the entry at the front of the book. Pretty much an index in the front of the book. Need more space? Just take a blank page put in the information and add the page number to the index. Successful varieties or techniques all go in the book.

The next book to be read (or in this case finish using the new e-reader) was Faulkner's "A Second Look" the follow up to "Ploughman's Folly". I just wanted to refresh the memory on Faulkner's experiences in agriculture. In this book he addresses questions, challenges and shortcomings arising from the first book. This is a though provoking book for any farmer. The PDF version is available from the Soil and Health Library at no cost as are many other very good texts.

The next book (still unfinished) is Paul Ham's "1914 The Year the World Ended". This is not research just interest so it falls into the reading category. Well written, bloody long but very interesting. They say that WWII was created by the terms of settlement emanating from WWI. And to some extent WWI had some roots in a prior war where the terms of settlement were unfavourable to the French who lost Alsace and Lorraine. But I best not simplify things here because I'm only up to page 108 in a 650 page tome.

Resting, also known as meditation, is in fact sleep or napping. And that was included in the day's events.

BUT, just so everyone knows that work still gets done around the place a Guinness like kit was assembled.

The last kit made was from Newcastle Brew Shop using Munton's Mt Mellick Irish Stout, Morgan's Roasted Dark Malt, Fuggles hops, and black grain stewed in a coffee plunger. And it was incredibly good even a couple of weeks after bottling. Therefore it made sense to put down another batch to ensure some aging which could only make it better. Gavin Webber said Guinness or Stout is a Winter drink only. We couldn't disagree more. Jean loves it right now after a hot sweaty day. In Winter it is consumed without chilling.

We also opened the last bottle of what was labelled #7. A Guinness like Stout assembled more than two years ago. Well it was something else. Partly because of the age but partly because it was made from other ingredients. Brewcraft Imported Irish Stout, Munton's Dark Malt, Goldings Hops, Roast Barley and Acidulated Grain.

At HHF "if you like something then get some more" and we will source the #7 ingredients and do it again.

The cave was looking a bit shabby and I wanted to vacuum the floor but it didn't feel right to do it and not the house. So both got done. Amazing how the tumbleweeds appeared within a few hours.

 

As anyone reading this blog might gather housework is not our greatest priority. Of course if either cat or anyone of the three dogs volunteered to man the brooms we would be happy. They always claim not having an opposing thumb prevents them. Good excuse.

Netting Grapes, Reading, Sparkling Wine, Tomatoes, Bottling Wine

Netting Grapes

The mild (until now) summer has resulted in a slow ripening of the grapes. As soon as the first bunch started to turn from green to various shades of pink, red, purple and black out came our nets. Last year the nets were left off too long and the parrots quickly removed the bulk of the crop. The weather has surged to hot suddenly and the bunches all quickly commenced and completed the transition to red.

We use white bird netting because tests have shown they let through a touch more UV light. They also look spectacular in the vineyard contrasting against the green grass background.

The vineyard consists of only 150 vines, a mixture of Isabella, Chambourcin and a few Tannat. The Isabella are slowly being either replaced or grafted over to Chambourcin. The Chambourcin were chosen because their hybrid nature makes them more tolerant of the humid conditions and no spraying is required to fight mildew. It is possible to make good wine from Chambourcin but it does need to ripen well and to do this requires minimising the number of bunches per vine.

The harshness of our rocky outcrop results in vines which send out roots horizontally as that is the only place they can go. This makes them susceptible to suffering in dry conditions but every now and then we manage to make some wine from our own crop. Mainly it is just to have a vineyard of one’s own rather than a sensible agricultural pursuit.

The most recent investment involves re-trellising the rows. The original trellising was a Hodge podge affair established quickly without a lot of forethought. Now that we know we can keep the vines alive a new trellising system is in progress. Experience has shown that a taller trellis seems to produce a better result. Based on the investment in material and time each bottle costs in the hundreds of dollars. Well we don’t own yachts or racehorses.

Reading

This year has been the first time we have both used the festive season to relax and do as little as possible. The flurry of activity leading up to Christmas involved getting the place ship shape with mowing and weeding.

Part of the preparatory process was to stock up on a large number of library books both fiction and non-fiction. A real kaleidoscope of genres and authors to make sure that all moods were catered.  A few library DVDs rounded out the stockpile.

What a wonderfully relaxing couple of weeks sitting around eating, drinking and reading. Occasionally pottering around to settle a meal or a little exercise to justify the next feast.

All this rest and recreation will come to an end soon enough and gardens will need weeding and planting, the lawns will need some attention as well as the long list of jobs that need doing will be unearthed.

Sparkling Wine

One of the pleasures we are enjoying with the hot weather is sipping on a glass or two of sparkling wine. The pleasure is doubled because this is our own sparkling Semillon. For whatever reason (and these experiments are always in the lap of the gods) this batch tastes splendid. It may be the hot weather, it may be that we are taking some time off or it may be just that it is good wine. There is only a very small amount of sulphur used barely 50 ppm.  We only made 9 bottles of this sparkling with the rest bottled as is.

Looking at the vintage diary again after almost 12 months. The grapes were crushed and de-stemmed with the skins soaking for 12 hours and the temperature chilled to just below 11 degrees Celsius before pressing. Brix at 22 and pH at 3.24. The fermentation proceeded in glass under airlock until Brix had dropped from the original 22  to 8. The temperature was kept between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. The lees were stirred each day except for the last day when the must was racked and French Oak added at 5 grams per litre. Bottling was left until the wine had completely cleared in August. Some years we have cold settled before bottling but this was unnecessary this time.

We cap our sparkling with a crown seal and don’t proceed to the stage of disgorging.  When opening the bottle it’s only a matter of decanting the wine in the same manner as a homebrew beer, leaving the sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

Tomatoes

As with the grapes the tomatoes have also been slow to ripen. Although there are always plenty to eat it has been difficult to gather enough ripe fruit to bottle. Still because of the previous year’s bounty we don’t need to make all that many jars. As long as the tally reaches 50 or so by season’s end we should be covered. There is also a backlog of dried tomatoes which we can use as filler.

In terms of eating fresh tomatoes we have been very impressed with the smaller varieties such as Red Grape and Cherry. A very intense sweet flavour that enhances a salad. Unfortunately trying to collect several kilograms of these for pureeing is just too hard so the larger less tasty varieties such as Roma fit the requirement. Particularly tasty has been Black Russian, our first planting of this variety. It has good size, firmness and is delicious.

Some of the other larger varieties have failed to perform this year but that happens from time to time. Their turn will come. Now that January has arrived it won’t be much longer before the fruit fly takes over the larger fruit leaving us dependant on the smaller varieties for day to day eating.

Bottling the last of the 2010 Malbec

The last batch of Malbec was 32 litres. It had been pressed and stored in the demijohn on February 12 after the addition of 6 grams per litre of French Oak chips.

The grapes were picked and crushed on February 3. The pH was 3.67 and the Brix 22.2. A little Tartaric acid was added to adjust the acidity and BDX yeast used. About 10% of the stems were added to the must. As is recommended for this manufactures’ yeast a small quantity of yeast nutrient is added. We split the nutrient into three batches adding one at the beginning, one when a third of the fermentation is complete and the final quantity at the two thirds mark.

The day after crushing 5 litres was bled off to make some Rose and fermentation was apparent by the day after. When fermentation commenced the temperature was 19.9 degrees Celsius.  By the following day the temperature was lowered to between 14 and 15 and until pressing the temperature kept between 12 and 15. This stretches out the fermentation period giving more skin contact. 

On February 10 we pressed another batch of Malbec and added the skins to this batch. This increase in the skins to juice ration should make for an interesting effect. Because no preservative is added we pressed when the fermentation was two thirds complete and the still fermenting must put in glass under airlock.

We look forward to see how this develops with age.