Elderflower Champagne

The time of year has arrived to make Elderflower Champagne.  Last year we tried this recipe and with a few amendments it worked- Yipee, so we will be giving it another go 

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It is hard to say the exact quantity of Elderflower we used, we were working with the motto of 'the more the merrier' and this year we must've picked a great day to collect them as the trees were positively bursting with flowers.  We ambled around our local area, armed with a large collecting bag (not plastic as these tend to make any contents hot and wet in the sunshine), picking the whitest most delicately scented blooms we could find. Ive read that at certain times of day the aroma changes from banana scented to that of cat-pee-make of that what you will. 

We then placed all our ingredients into a large (new) bucket and it's sitting in my dining room, covered with muslin cloth, near the patio window, happily fermenting in the warmth of the sunshine.  It does give off a very distinct aroma, like that of Lychee, quite perfumey and delicate.  I recall that we added additional champagne yeast last year, as a boost for the natural yeast and to aid fermentation along. I will check on the progress in a few days before deciding if that's necessary this time. Then it will be decanted or strained into plastic bottles and kept in our shed for a few weeks. A quick google search will identify many tales of exploding bottles, hence we use plastic bottles and put it out of harms way in the shed.  Last year, to my amazement, the bottles would swell with the pressure of the carbon monoxide inside and I would release this with a twist of the bottle tops.  One thought with this though is how this will affect the final fizz factor when the brew is ready? Surely one 'de-gas' too many would result in a flat champagne?  Think I need to read more about this.

Some Elderflowers

 Hopefully, our 'champagne' will be ready in a few weeks, just in time for my birthday, which would make a lovely celebratory tipple.  Much of my reading around this champagne suggests that the alcohol content is variable, with a maximum of 14%.  Last years' brew did have a definite alcohol content, but I doubt it was anywhere near a strong wine or 14%.  Without going to the expense of buying a kit to test this I wouldn't really know.  That said, the beauty of drinking this is, for me, the knowledge that I have succeeded in using natural wild food to create it. 

Fingers crossed-I will keep you posted.

Broody hen

Well, I am very excited to announce that we have got a broody hen!!

This has only happened to us once, last year, in the three years we have been keeping backyard chickens.  Sadly, before I could get too excited sly fox paid us a devastating visit see post 'Ups and Downs' 

Anyhow, the broody one is a warren, which Ive heard is unusual to go broody? So, after watching  her sitting on a clutch for a few days-so I was sure she wasn't teasing me, and not having a cockerel, I went to purchase some fertile eggs.  In my dream of the self sufficient living etc, I like the idea of breeding and raising chickens, both for eggs and meat but also for sale; in my farm shop of course!  This raised the question of what eggs to buy; where do you start?  I'm quite a novice yet, I don't mix frequently with anyone who keeps more than a few chickens for eggs let alone breeds chickens, so I wasn't at all sure where to start.  The idea of raising some table birds has been discussed before and I would also really like some bantam chickens (see post Ducklings); so it was decided that I would go back to the breeder that we bought our girls from and go from there.

Much to my husbands amazement, I returned with 12 bantam eggs; I say amazement because his reaction went something like

"I thought you were buying 6 table birds? what are we going to do with 12 bantams?"

( Proof that if I don' take the children and husband then I am either likely to make a random decision or get my own way!! )

Why dear husband, we are going to begin our foray into pure breed bantam chickens. As said, We now have a clutch of 12 tiny eggs, two are brown-Old English Game, one is white-Sussex and the others are a lovely blue green- Araucana.

As mentioned I am new to hatching and so Ive been reading around the subject again.  Lots of conflicting advice.  Do we move the hen and her eggs and risk freaking her out and breaking the broodiness? Or do we leave her where she is?; in the nest box in the henhouse, and hope that she copes just as well as she would in nature or if she was a free range bird?  We decided to leave her where she is; partly because we haven't set up another area suitable for her.  If you have any experiences of this then I would appreciate any comments or advice?

I am working on the basis that the incubation period for a standard size breed chicken is around 21 days, with bantams often hatching earlier-around 18 days, and I will update this page when there has been any developments

Fingers crossed for her, I do hope it goes well.