Fall Tropical Fruit Harvest

Today served up a nice variety of fruit. Cool weather has arrived and we'll start moving plants back tomorrow. 

Clockwise, from top left: 'Mallika' mango (Mangifera indica 'Mallika'), 'Kari' star fruit (Averrhoa carambola 'Kari'), strawberry guava (Psidium cattleyanum), limeberry (Triphasia trifolia), miracle fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum), lemondrop mangosteen (Garcinia madruno), Barbados cherry (Malpighia glabra)

2018 Wines - Chapter 3 - Chardonel

On August 18th, Lisa, Jake and I picked 80 pounds of Chardonel. In the field, pH 2.74, Brix 22.6, TA 10.5.

I added 25g calcium carbonate to get TA to 8.0. The pH rose to 2.93. Starting SG 1.093. It was cold settled for 24 hours on 2t pectic enzyme, then racked onto 4g Booster Blanc and 8g Opti White. We used QA23 and kept it in water bath with ice packs for the first week. The wine was step-fed with Fermaid K and bentonite added. After 1 week the SG dropped to 1.040 and I moved the wine to carboy and the temp control system set at 55F.

As with the Frontenac, the wine didn't get below about 58F, but after another week we were down to 1.000, so it was racked to carboys and treated with KMS.

2018 Wines - Chapter 2 - Row Seven

We picked all of the grapes on the same day, in part because we wanted Jake to be able to help. Having read stories of difficulty making good red wine from Frontenac we elected to make rosé. We didn't have much Foch, and one of the vines billed as Frontenac is clearly not. So we lumped everything together from the seventh row and made rosé.

We adjusted the TA down from 1.08% to around 0.80% with calcium carbonate. The pH came up more than expected from 3.16 to 3.59. The wine may require some acid additions later. We also added KMS, 4g Booster Blanc, 6g Opti White. The starting Brix was 25, SG 1.102. We fermented it in our temperature control system set at 55F and the temp stayed in the 57-58F range throughout. I step fed with Fermaid K and added bentonite once the fermentation got going. That temperature didn't slow the QA23 and it powered through to 1.004 in a week.

After another week it was down to 0.994 and we topped with 1 bottle of cheap dry Missouri rosé from Stone Hill to make it an even 3 gallons.

The Grape Harvest

Jake was home for the weekend two weeks ago and with the Frontenac at 24 Brix or better, we harvested the grapes.

One of the grapes billed as Frontenac is in fact a lighter colored grape. We're making rosé, so it went in with the Frontenac and a few Foch. We're calling this rosé "Row 7."

We pressed the rosé first, then the whites. We probably should have waited another 1-2 weeks on row 6, as the Traminette came in at around 17 Brix. We tried the double salt technique to manage the acid and it wound up browning the wine significantly. But the rosé and the Chardonel look good.

Harvest Time

When you walk into our kitchen the air is rich with pawpaw. The harvest seems to have started early; small fruit on the margins are dropping and you can see evidence of deer. Now working on improvements in processing the pulp.

A very windy day brought down a few of the pears and we'll try to ripen these up in the fridge.

Looking forward to a grape harvest possibly Saturday. The white, mostly Chardonel, is at 22.2 Brix, pH 2.78. The red, mostly Frontenac, is 25 Brix, TA 13.2, and pH 3.05. Some are starting to raisin on the top where exposed to sun all day. The forecast is for rain and clouds for the next several days so hopefully we won't lose too many more during the work week. Jake comes home for the weekend, so it will be a family affair.

Midsummer 2018

We've undertaken a remodel of the poolhouse and lanai. The columns need to be reworked due to water damage. In the poolhouse we're removing the grill, adding roll-up doors, and replacing the old warped cabinetry with new outdoor cabinets.

We plan to add a water softener and to rearrange the cabinets to allow a full size fridge/freezer.

In news of the recovery, we're up to 18 Vidal Blanc vines with signs of growth. Exciting to see the other grapes coming a long. We've already got bird netting on the Frontenac which show great color.

Despite the beetle damage, I still hope to have enough grapes for a small batch of wine.

My goal has always been to get one new fruit species per year and this year we met the goal with Garcinia intermedia, the lemon drop mangosteen. Apparently the old name was G. edulis and that is the label on this plant, which just goes to show you how long it took to get fruit. Honestly it wasn't great - inedibly sour - but I now have a second plant flowering and several more fruit set so there is hope for better fruit.

Starfruit is not a candidate for new fruit this year, but perhaps it should be. We've been without 'Kari' now for a couple of years and the new tree from Pine Island has set fruit.

Mango is another ineligible candidate. I grew 'Cogshall' for several years and finally got so irritated with it that I got rid of it. 'Cogshall' would never hold fruit to maturity. This time I went with 'Mallika' and so far it has not disappointed.

Trying a new technique - pollarding - on the lychee trees this year. Normally then get a firm prune mid-July but this time I really pruned them back very hard in an effort to get growth I can reach without a step-stool. Results in about 10 months.

We're just back from the Chalet and the post would not be complete without some Lake Michigan pictures, final pic photo credit to Bob Pierce.

Recovery Underway

Just in time for us to leave town again for another week, the grapes are recovering.

I lost about half of the Foch clusters and more of the Traminette, but the Chardonel and Frontenac still look pretty good. In fact, starting to see some early color on the Frontenac.

Irrigation is required as we have no more than a 20% chance of rain any day for the next 2 weeks.

Some trouble with shingles this week. Not the shingles I usually encounter - I'm talking about shingles that belong on the roof.

There was also one pesky shingle that has been out of place for several years. The need to repair this section prompted me to go ahead and fix everything. Adam says OSHA would not approve.

We are on garcinia watch. The G. uniflora set some fruit last year but dropped them early. This year, I got flowers from G. intermedia as well, and I went to work with my paintbrush. Still holding so far. The G. intermedia did not set any fruit.

Finally, just had to post a pic of the best ribs I think I've every made. Fourth of July ribs on the BGE. Recipe here, but we used Mango Coconut and Blackberry instead of the salted caramel preserves.