Posted on 08/27/2022 6:29:31 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
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I’ve made sweeter wines by watching for the fermentation to slow, then adding more sugar. At some point the alcohol content will reach the point where the yeast can’t eat any more sugars, giving you a sweet wine with no risk of fermentation restarting.
I experimented once with using fruit juice concentrate instead of sugar. It resulted in a wine concentrate. You had to dilute it with water to make a normal, drinkable wine. But, once diluted, it did make for a nice dessert wine. I think if I try that again, I might use tart fruit, because I really wanted the flavor of the fruit itself to be stronger, not just the sugars.
Nice info thanks. We have friends with a big fruit farm and they freeze bulk packages of their pie cherries. Also Michigan is big on cherries I can probably find some juice to experiment with. Between all this great advice I think I can try this now. Already have some nice big glass jugs. Just need a stopper with a tube. Dads been gone since 1995 and it was the one thing he made that I never asked him about how he made it.
My bro leaves Sept 5 for elk hunting in CO! Bow hunting. He says if he gets a shot, bull or cow, he’s taking it - wants the meat. He was totally shocked to find out that hamburger my SIL bought recently was $8/lb (so he said). The funny thing is ... the elk meat is going to average out a LOT more than $8/lb LOL!
If he gets an elk, I hope he’ll “share” ... he’s got at least 2 kids that will gladly eat elk so I doubt I get much, if any. I’m thinking about offering to pay him for some of it ... that might bump me at least one place higher on the distribution list!
I’m in food security mode - buying meat on sale (scored 2 3lb each chuck roasts for half price the other day) whenever I see it & I’ve got that half hog coming soon. I’m looking for a grassfed beef source - my hog source won’t have beef for 2-3 years.
https://permasteader.route66custom.com/cloud/index.php/s/yFjnDjwNWmmEXHy
Chart at top lists standard stopper diameter at the bottom of them.
Airlocks are cheap and you can buy the stopper/airlock as a pair. Don’t have to worry about propping up tubing to get a dip in it or finding the right size tubing to fit a hole in a stopper or trying to shove soft tubing through a hole in a rubber stopper etc. You can get three stopper/airlock sets for less than $10 on ebay/amazon. If you don’t like either of them you can do a web search for wine making supplies. Might even find a brick and mortar within driving distance.
I’ll be getting some more airlocks at some point just because they’re worry free. I’ve got 1 so I can buy 2 sets of 3 for less than $20 to cover my 7 jug method.
Yeah I found some on Walmart.com. Not going to mess with tubing , thanks.
Thanks.
I have some of those on the property already and have planted a few others.
A charcoal snake.

And....
Exactly, looks perfect!
Best of luck to your Brother. I hope he shares with you!
Of all the ‘wild meats’ Elk is by FAR my favorite. But, corn & soybean fed Venison is pretty darn good too - much to the local farmers’ dismay. ;) I’ve been watching two nice 8-point bucks on our land and quite a number of fat & sassy doe. Hoping for a good harvest here this Fall. ;)
But don’t bother harvesting those Northern deer - fed on scrub brush and Pine? You really CAN taste the difference.
My brother does a good job of field dressing/cooling his venison quickly so it’s rarely gamey. Last year, however, he had an old buck that, despite being handled well, was a bit on the gamey side ... I mix the meat with cheap (fatty) hamburger & that tones it down. That’s mostly what I have in the freezer right now: “old buck”.
I did get some elk burger from him a couple of years ago, plus my dad got an elk decades ago so I’ve had plenty of exposure to elk meat - I do like it better than venison.
So what I would like to know ... what does ‘moose’ taste like? It must be pretty good stuff - it seems to be what all the Alaskans want in their freezer come winter. Of course, one moose fills up a lot of freezer space, too! The moose meat stews I’ve seen on cable or recipes online look fabulous.
Another question ... I absolutely cannot eat mutton. I have tried and tried ... must be something in my genetics ... can’t stand the smell or the taste. So on the outdoor hunting shows, I see guys killing wild sheep & then sometimes, they’ll cook some of it over a fire. Does wild sheep taste like domestic mutton? Inquiring minds would like to know.
Not sure I qualify as an expert, but I’m definitely a fan.
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Yay! This means you can answer my questions! So you have one bush? How much room does it take up? Do elder bushes tend to spread on their own? My neighbor said she had them all over her back yard ... I’m assuming she was properly identifying the elder bushes. Do they like full sun or will they grow in shade & how about dirt quality?
If I did grow a bush, it would have to be somewhere I could keep the deer off of it ... not sure I want it out in the raised bed area. I would like to grow my own, but it all depends if I can find a suitable spot.
I don’t like anything about goat or sheep meat. Or milk. But I won’t say no to wool! Must be that German Jew ancestry that tells me to stay away from those ‘cloven hoofed critters.’ ;)
OK. I lied. I’ll eat it in a Giros...that someone ELSE has made for me. ;)
Beau has never gotten a Moose and I Thank God for that every time he heads to AK. He’d drag home every PART of that MONSTER and leave it for me to deal with. Ugh!
And a Moose Head added to the ridiculous animal head collection that already graces our home would put me over the edge!
He did that with me and the Wild Hogs he got down in (very) southern Texas. It took me a dozen tries to get that SHOE LEATHER cooked correctly, and by then we were out of it!
For the record, the last critter I harvested was a fat doe when I was in my late teens. It was a clean kill, but I never did develop a yearning for hunting. I’ll work the back-end of the kitchen, Thanks! ;)
I don’t hunt other than going out with dad bird hunting when I was young. There are times when I’m tempted to start deer hunting, but then the “reality” of what it takes to do it hits me (cold mornings, hours of sitting in tree stands, etc.) ... my brother & nieces bow, rifle & occasionally black powder hunt. I’d have to gun hunt if I ever decided to do it. My brother’s upcoming elk hunt is a bow hunt.
At a previous house I had one bush that was a named variety I planted when I was 14. On my farm now I have a few wild ones, but I’m hoping to get a lot more established, both wild and named. At least 2 of the wild ones got hit by herbicide from the neighboring property. They survived but haven’t produced since.
The branches tend to sag outward a lot, so even one bush can take up a lot of space. On the other hand, they don’t seem to mind being a bit crowded. I suggest planting them 6-8 feet apart so you can reach between them.
They produce best with full sun. They don’t seem to mind a bit of shade, but the difference in productivity is pretty drastic. They also tolerate a fairly wide range of soil types. Around here they’re common in medians and roadsides.
If you’re looking at named varieties, I’d recommend looking at ones bred for production. Especially look for one that has clusters that ripen all at once. It’s annoying to have clusters that are ripe, over-ripe, and under-ripe, all mixed together.
Thank you! Just the info I needed to know. Definitely will not be in my raised bed area, but I’ll find a place for a bush or two. I’ve read a lot about Elderberries for medicinal purposes and would like to make my own elderberry syrup.
The instructions are in Italian, but there are lots of pretty pictures to guide you through.

http://www.caietulcuretete.com/2016/10/salata-de-muraturi-asortata.html
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