Strawberry 1090

[CrealCritter]

What do you do when you've been given 5 lbs of FULLY ripe strawberries and your wife says I don't know what to do with them? Well you make strawberry wine of course

I don't have any wine yeast handy but my buddy at the home brew store does

 

[frustratedearthmother]

I'm very surprised to see seeds floating on top.

What? You don't like crunchies in your wine?

 

[CrealCritter]

Ain't no sense in fighting it...

 

[CrealCritter]

I racked the Hootenanny Hooch. Daughter, son in law & daughter in law all came in for dinner as I was racking. I had 2 gallons plus a 1/2 gallon mason jar to cold crash for topping off. But once everyone, including my wife had to have a little glass I ended up with less than a quart to cold crash.

Hydrometer reading was about 1.025, so it is still pretty sweet and we all agreed it tastes a lot like spiked punch. It's fermented to about 8.5% alcohol right now. I capped and air locked the gallon jugs and placed in a dark area to finish fermenting and clear some. I will take another hydrometer reading and taste test, in about a month.

Anyways... So far, so good, fingers remained crossed.

 

[CrealCritter]

What? You don't like crunchies in your wine?

no sure don't.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Lol, thanks @Marianne! Now I'll have that stuck in my head all afternoon!

 

[Hinotori]

That sounds good. I like some wines, but not others. I'd try it.

We're eating strawberries right now since they just started. I have to make jam later this month for Mom and us.

 

[Britesea]

My strawberries are full of blooms, but no fruit just yet

 

[wyoDreamer]

DH made me buy 8 strawberry plants - but, I don't have the strawberry bed ready. Actually, I want to plant them in the raised beds that he said he is making for me this fall. "but you can plant them in the garden area and move them later" he says. He also insists that I roto-till the entire garden area each fall and spring to keep the weeds down - if I don't, he does it for me. He roto-tilled the last batch of strawberries that I planted ...

 

[Lazy Gardener]

Have him sit down with a hot cup of tea... or a cold glass of lemonade... or the beverage of choice and watch this video:

https://www.documentarystorm.com/back-to-eden/

As for those strawberry plants: You will loose a whole season by not planting them in a dedicated bed NOW. Those plants need to be in the soil where they can spread their roots and send out runners this season. Those runners that start now will produce your crop of berries next spring. Do you have somewhere in your garden where the strawberries can co-habit? strawberries are great companions for corn. Or onions. Or garlic. You could even plant them between your tomatoes, or in your pepper bed. Or do a bed of lettuce, and tuck the strawberries in there. By the time you've harvested the lettuce, the berries will be ready to take over the whole bed.

Tell hubbs: "Thanks for the berries, but if you ever want to see a strawberry pie, those plants need to get into the soil NOW." Consider strawberries to be nomads in your garden. You will harvest from your bed, then let the runners spread to new ground. After harvest is complete, you can then mulch over the old bed, (or till if you must!) and let the newly established bed (from those runners) produce NEXT year's crop. The best way to make the most out of your garden foot print is to let some crops (like strawberries) share space.