Hanging out at the vineyards

We think it is cool that we are finally getting grapes on the vines. I guess that the term vineyard might be overstating it a little since we have about 10 bunches of grapes. They will probably be for fresh eating this year.

Our big success is the red currants. We enjoy the tart slightly sweet flavor and think they are very pretty as well. We have started harvesting them and are looking forward to making them into wine. Last year we had a smaller yield and they were mixed in with other fruits. The currant and strawberry wine was a real treat. It looks like our raspberry plants will produce well and they should be good mixed with the currants. We hope to have more red currant bushes next year so we can also make sauces, relishes and other treats with them. They are perfect for a slightly shaded area we need to fill in. The hard part is harvesting them when they look so nice on the plants.

A work in progress

The good news is that we have a lot of room to work with in our yard. The bad news is that the weeds can easily fill in the spaces before we do. Our lawn wasn't in great shape when we moved in and hasn't been worth the effort for us. We prefer our flower gardens, fruiting shrubs and raised bed vegetable gardens. Three of our favorite projects are pictured above. The hollyhocks bring back special memories because they are from seed collected by my mother-in-law years ago. The bee balm pictured in the center is a favorite of ours because the hummingbirds love it. The red currants are special because every year near our wedding anniversary, we pick them and make a one gallon batch of "Ruby Lady" wine to be enjoyed the next year for our anniversary. The yard is definitely a work in progress with much left to do. However, we are enjoying ourselves along the way.

Rhubarb, rhubarb and more rhubarb

I'm very pleased with how the gardens are doing. I've been picking a lot of peas, lettuce and herbs this week. The rhubarb is doing especially well. I haven't had time to try any new recipes but have come up with a tasty way to use it up. I have mixed rhubarb and dried fruit with juice and cooked it over medium heat until it begins to thicken. I add a little stevia or other sweetener if needed. Chill and serve. Tonight's combo was dried mango, cranberry juice and rhubarb. Yesterday I used dried apricot, rhubarb and orange juice. I didn't measure very carefully but it seems to work with a little more than a cup of chopped rhubarb, a little less than a cup of dried fruit and about 3/4 cup of juice. I look forward to experimenting with more rhubarb ideas until the tomatoes, beans and potatoes begin to take over the garden.

Happy Father's Day

I had just enough time this morning to weed and then harvest a tasty breakfast of snap peas, alpine strawberries and lettuce. It went nicely with a glass of "Rhubarb-ade". Now I'm headed to Minneapolis for a nice celebration with family.

Why do I garden?

These pictures answer that question! Yesterday morning, I was able to walk bleary eyed out to our garden and pick fresh snap peas for breakfast. Add one deviled egg and it was the perfect start to the day. Just last weekend we saw the first bloom on the snap peas. A few days ago there was one lone pea pod to be harvested (I broke it in half and split it with my husband). Today they are really taking off. In theory I plant these mostly to give to my Mom. Giving them away seems like a great idea.......until mealtime :)

Wines from the garden

Some of our cool and rainy days this week weren't good for doing much in the garden but were perfect for wine making. We are getting ready to bottle our elderberry wine and have enjoyed a bit of it already. Its rich flavor went very nicely with grilled buffalo steaks. I'm hoping to be able to get some more elderberries this year for an elderberry grape wine.

I just started a gallon batch of the wine that only I seem to be excited about. It is made with lilac flowers, elderberry flowers and dried pears. It is just starting to ferment and has a very delicate flavor that shows promise. Now if you just can't wait until next year to try your own batch of lilac wine, you might even be able to order it on-line. My husband and I have found a few fun North Dakota wineries in our travels. Maple River Winery has some good sounding wines including Lilac, Aronia, Pumpkin and Honeycomb Plum (I've only tried one of their wines so far but look forward to getting more on our next ND trip). They also have Dandelion Wine which is something I was sure I wouldn't like. My brother-in-law made a batch once that had a lovely delicate flavor which has left me wanting another sip of dandelion wine but not wanting to spend hours picking off the petals to make it.

All of our wines have been fun to try although I do have a tendency to prefer making the quirky ones. My husband prefers the plain fruit wines which is why I planted 25 raspberry bushes this year. I on the other hand am eyeing a recipe for Pea Pod Wine.