Drink the Harvest: Making and Preserving Juices, Wines, Meads, Teas, and Ciders

233 Pages·2014·55.34 MB·English

by  Nan K. Chase

Making and
Preserving
Juices,
Wines,
Meads, Teas,
and Ciders
NaN K. Chase
DeNeiCe C. Guest
Photographs by Johnny autry
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© 2014 by Nan K. Chase and DeNeice C. Guest 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Be sure to read all instructions thoroughly
before using any of the techniques or recipes in this Chase, Nan K., 1954-
book and follow all of the recommended safety Drink the harvest / by Nan K. Chase and
guidelines. DeNeice C. Guest.
pages cm
Includes index.
ISBN 978-1-61212-159-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)
All rights reserved. No part of this book may
ISBN 978-1-60342-913-9 (ebook) 1. Fruit juices.
be reproduced without written permission from the
2. Vegetable juices. 3. Wine and wine making.
publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief
4. Kitchen gardens. I. Guest, DeNeice C. II. Title.
passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with
TP562.C44 2014
appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book
663’.63--dc23
be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
2013045042
Storey Publishing is committed to making environmentally responsible manufacturing decisions.
This book was printed on paper made from sustainably harvested fiber.
WE dEdicAtE this book to WE grAtEfully AcknoWlEdgE
the inspired professionals at all the older gardeners we have
the cooperative Extension met through the years, for the
system of the united states wisdom they so eagerly share.
department of Agriculture, We also appreciate the younger
who have been teaching gardeners in our lives who bring
gardeners and cooks for freshness and energy into any
generations. garden. And we acknowledge
our many good friends in the
Asheville E-Z gardeners, a club
that’s made it “E-Z” to try new
things.

v
introduction 1
Finding Beverages in
Your Garden 5
The Joys of Juice (and Other drinks) 6
Where’s the Juice? 7
You Have the skills 9
Your garden’s already Perfect 11
Creating Fruit &
Vegetable Drinks 49
Juice or Cider 51
How to Make Juice 52
refrigeration and Freezing 60
How to Can 62
step-by-step Canning 64
recipes Berry Juice 72
strawberry Juice 74
Peach Juice 76
Big Wow grape Cider 78
Crab apple Juice 80
apple Juice 83
apple Family Cider 85
Peerless Pear Cider 86
Happy Time Pear Juice 88
Prickly Pear Cactus Juice 90
Tomato Juice 92
sensational-7 vegetable drink 94
deneice’s super-Heated
Bloody Mary Mixer 96
Creating Garden Syrups 173
The Beauty of Homemade syrups 174
Just add sugar and Boil! 176
recipe s Fruit Juice syrup 182
Mint syrup 183
Watermelon-Mint syrup 184
Concentrated Watermelon syrup 186
Peach-rosemary syrup 187
Blueberry-Basil syrup 188
spiced ginger-Bay syrup 190
One World apple spice syrup 192
Tart Cherry syrup 193
Prickly Pear Cactus syrup 194
Growing a Harvesting &
Beverage Garden 15 Preparation 29
Meet Our Favorite Plants 16 Reaping What You’ve Sown 30
Pruning for Production 26 Is It Ripe Yet? 31
Equipment: Keeping It Simple 34
Clear the Decks! 44
Creating Wines, Meads
& Specialty Drinks 99
A Garden Full of Wine 101 Bitchin’ Birch Wine 148
The Hardest Part Is Patience 102 Basic Mead 150
How Fermentation Works 104 Red, White, and Blueberry Mead 152
Different Kinds of Fermented Drinks 106 Mixed Berry Mead 154
Managing the Must 107 Old Crabby Mead 156
How to Make Wine 112 Spiced Apple Mead 158
Racking 120 Very Perry Holiday Mead 160
Time to Bottle 124 Crab Apple Rice Wine 162
Nan’s Crab Apple SuperCider 164
recipe s Easy Garden Grape Wine 132
Peerless Perry 166
All-Around Herb Wine 134
Luscious Limoncello 168
Dandelion Wine 136
Garden Mint Wine 138
Parsley Wine 140
Passionflower–Lemon Balm Wine 142
Heirloom Potato Wine 144
Prickly Pear Cactus Wine 146
Creating Garden Teas 197
Teas for Two or More 198 Glossary 216
Making Garden Teas 200 Metric Conversion Chart 217
Plants for Making Tea 204 Resources 218
Index 220
recipe s Citrus Peel Tea 208
Rose Hip Tea 210
Making Kombucha 211
vii

WElcomE to thE WondErful World of homEgroWn bEvErAgEs. Beyond the
edible landscape lies the “drinkable” landscape, where any fruit, any vine or
berry, any herb or flower blossom may be the stuff of juice, wine, syrup, or tea.
That’s where we live, where we garden, from high-fructose corn syrup while
cook, and imbibe. We love sharing good providing nutrition and encouraging an
times with our families and our friends, interest in good food.
at get-togethers that are enlivened with gourmet cooks looking for unique
delicious beverages from our gardens. offerings for friends and guests. (Simply
We share a passion for putting up fruit uncork a bottle of prickly pear cactus
and vegetable juices in all forms and wine to create a sensation.)
using them in cocktails, for marinades urban homesteaders motivated
and seasonings, in soups and salads, to wrest more of their diet, solid and
all sorts of places. liquid, from the streets around them.
As part of the explosive national suburban gardeners trying to bring
movement to plant and harvest food more utility to their spacious and well-
ever closer to home, we noticed that tended yards.
it was almost too successful! People farm families with the know-how to
everywhere were planting bigger and process bulk foods and enough land to
more diverse gardens, and pretty soon plant additional high-production crops.
many gardeners were swamped with conscious eaters who insist on pure,
quickly ripening produce from vegetable safe foods that are free of pesticides and
gardens, berry patches, and orchards, genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
not to mention the bounty from farm- and who like to prepare their own meals
ers’ markets. What to do with it all? We from the ingredients up.
agreed that someone should be talking Our dream is that after trying some of
about how fun and rewarding it is to these recipes and mastering the general
maximize garden harvest by process- principles, you will gain confidence, get
ing beverages, not to mention how creative, and start making up your own
economical. recipes based on the contents of your
This book is not just for experienced own plot of land. One of our best discov-
gardeners and expert cooks. It is for eries during our months of field research
everyone who loves good food and was that two of the most flavorful and
drink, appreciates economy, embraces productive of all the drinkable crops are
creativity, and wants new ideas for a also great in the home landscape: crab
memorable garden and an inviting table. apples and prickly pear cactus.
This book is for:
parents who want to limit their chil- cheers!
dren’s consumption of empty calories
and

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