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I have always boiled the must even if its for just long enough, say 5 min at 80 degrees to kill the baddies. Open fermentation is often used at the beginning as the first fermentation is so vigorous and can have the wine crawling out of the demi-john. I tend to half fill demi-johns until it calms do...

I can appreciate you may adding the pine needles to offset alkalinity of the droppings? If they're not alkaline then you're going to end up with a VERY acidic mixture which may not compost at all due to the low pH, and as you've found it is a bulky and time consuming process. This is partially due t...

Are you not boiling the must then adding yeast once cooled to the right temp? I've never heard of adding campden tablets to must. This may well kill brewing yeast added after it and if a stronger wild yeast gets in it will have a characteristically sour vinegary taste as is used in Geuze and Lambic ...

Be careful, the resins in this plant are quite powerful. The plant is used as a rubifacient (reddens the skin: dermatitis!) and a vermifuge, kills intestinal parasites. The essential oil should only be used by professionals, however pine needle tea is good for vitamin c. You can eat the innner bark ...

Also smells like you just lifted an old log rather than Sagey or Minty (YUK!)

Toxicity is not really the issue unless you have arthritis. People with this condition should avoid rumex and oxalis like the plague. Oxalic acid locks up calcium in the food and so if eaten too regularly one could start showing signs of deficiency.

The process we're talking about here is known as "bletting" see here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletting @sda wild dog roses are the best. The government had children picking 100's of tons of them nationwide during the war due to their massive vitamin C content. Adding fragrant petals o...

I usually use a fork to get them off the stems, and always use 4lb of fruit to 2.5lb of sugar in stages. Doing this you will often get a malolactic secondary fermentation and you end up with a very velvety semi-sparkling port!

Those are definitely rosa rugosa :)

We used to smoke eels by the river whilst fishing. Take a family circle (big square) biscuit tin cut a 3" hole in the bottom and place the meat or whatever on a trivet inside. Raise the tin up on rocks or sticks and light a small wood chip fire under the hole. Temp can be controlled either by v...

It depends on what you want to spend really, here's a few links: http://www.allthingsgreen.net/marketplace/professional-soil-testing-kit-p-9385.html?_$ja=tsid:3154|kw:9385|cgn:The%20Recycle%20Works http://www.gardening-naturally.com/acatalog/Professional_Soil_Testing_Kit.html#aPST01 http://www.grain...

Hi All, I'm from York (Yorkshire) and have been swinging by this space for a short while. I finished a Horticulture degree 2 years ago and have worked extensively in conservation (BTCV) and have been into wild food and hunting since a child. I've also interests in alternative therapies, music, compu...