Megan Palmer

Wine

Do you happen to know whether the vinegar was made by fermenting the peaches or infusing ready made vinegar with peaches?

I have made fruit vinegars from apples, feijoas, quinces and pears by fermentation and raspberry vinegar by soaking raspberries in ready made vinegar but yet to make peach vinegar.

Ulla Bisgaard wrote:
I am going to try and do the same, but add some roselle hibiscus as well. The Victoria rhubarb we grow, has almost no color to it.

Red stalked silver beet (chard) might also impart some colour and ought not to adversely affect the flavour?

There are several varieties of rhubarb growing at the community garden with red the entire length of the stalk.

They are widely available at garden centres but if any of your gardening friends are growing the red variety, perhaps they would share a piece of the crown with you?

https://www.kings.co.nz/rhubarb-crimson-sunrise-19l-129631?srsltid=AYCX9vL0qLE00k6iXr5eAIekbXfd6hBmIKRbHZVqRKP5G8mM4pDRVKhv

https://www.palmers.co.nz/products/998137674?srsltid=AYCX9vL4FcpTdpXA4E09NaueaY4-uVEofehPRgOQRVbEFEDjAHN4xCuq

It's spring time in the southern hemisphere and it seems that the rhubarb is producing new stalks overnight.

Chopped and cooked them overnight in with finely shredded ginger, Seville orange zest and 25% sugar to weight of rhubarb.

No added water, the rhubarb releases plenty. I strain the excess syrup to use as a cordial.

Water bathed all the jars and they'll remain shelf stable for years.

Have processed three batches already, will give away many of the jars - there's only so much that we can eat ourselves!

If there are any local groups that specialise in heritage apples, you could consult them to find out which varieties grow well in your area and then look up descriptions of their flavour profile.

They may also be able to provide you with sources of scion wood to graft several varieties onto a tree extending both the harvest window and the storage capabilities which could allow you to be eating them for up to 9 months.

In the UK, the Brogdale Trust has a comprehensive database of apple varieties with descriptions of the taste and texture, keeping quality and harvesting dates.

University extension offices also offer similar databases.

Here’s a few links to get you started -

https://www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/search.php

https://mnhardy.umn.edu/apples/varieties

https://www.orangepippin.com/varieties/apples

Here’s some inspiration for you

https://permies.com/t/256489/Matt-Walker-tiny-cookstove-build

This is only a cook top stove

https://permies.com/f/55/wood-burning-stoves


Look forward to following your journey

Kate Downham wrote:
There’s a thing that I’m not sure exists outside of Tasmania or not called a “house cake” which is this little torte, slightly smaller than the palm of my hand, with a shortcrusty base, a filling that I think is pastry cream, and then berries and a sweet jelly on top. I looked it up years ago looking for a recipe and it doesn’t seem to be known by that name, but I wonder if it has a different name in another country.

I wonder whether it is a miniature version of the French fruit tart with a clear jelly layer on top instead of the jam glaze in this recipe?

https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/classic-french-fruit-tart.html

The last one that I saw and photographed was a couple of months ago but there's been more that I've seen that I haven't captured.