The focus is on new craft wines such as Elderflower Sparkling and table wines such as Rhubarb.  Rather than go into detail here you’re best off visiting my Pulp Fusion website by clicking here.

Keep an eye out at local Farmers Markets or similar events.

“Pulp Fusion Craft Wines – There’s more to wine then grapes.”

The QR code is a 2D barcode that can link people direct to your website. Try scanning the image below and it should pop up with my Buggslife.com URL:

Buggslife QR Code

You just need a barcode scanner which you can get as an app on your smart phone. I use the app “Barcode Scanner” based on the open source ZXing Barcode Library on my HTC Desire S phone.

Anyway, to personalise your QR code just open the image in any editing software (e.g. Photoshop) and you can change the central portion. Be careful with the edges and don’t cover up the corners as they are critical. Then test it out.

A nice touch to an otherwise dull looking black and white square.

I was interested whether this period of recession – with fewer career opportunities for fresh minds – would spark a wave of artists after what felt like a long spell of numbness in a political regard.

Photo Poem: “What Zedong Said…”.

Less than 12 months after writing it I can already see tangible reactions, looking back after the exhilarating Arab Spring (Arab Dawn?) where entire nations have stood up against their various regimes and with more ‘settled’ nations seeing huge protests from their youth against Austerity.

Of course I didn’t predict any of this – I had more questions than answers.  Still, I think it is a time rich in the emotive drivers that fuel new art and I look forward to the artists’ emergence, in whatever form they are taking.

I used the Working Title “What Zedong Said…” whilst writing the poem…in fact, I wrote it during one day mostly whilst riding my bike along my normal countryside route to work…as several long text messages on my mobile phone!

Back to the title, it was simply in reference to a quote by Zedong Mao (Chairman Mao):

“There is in fact no such thing as art for art’s sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. Proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause.”

I find this statement very powerful and it sparked my mind at the perfect time when I read it.  I am proud of this poem, although I understand technically it may well be useless…either way, you can find it via this link:

Photo Poem: “What Zedong Said…”.

Being a working title I had intended to go back and change it afterward but ended up quite liking it – although it being so unlinked to the poem’s topics it may have an alienating effect on the reader…

Enjoy.

Pendle Hedgerow Wine is made from fruits sourced from the Ormskirk area and includes:

• Elderberries
• Rosehips
• Blackberries
• Rhubarb

Three versions of the wine were created, one Dry at 12.7% vol and one sweet at 14% vol – both of which are bottled and have had 6 months conditioning.  The third is a special batch that has been batch maturing for over a year and will be ready in 2012.

Cannot wait…

A quick one – I just have to mention this beer as it is one of the best ales I have had in ages.

I stopped at the small brewery Fyne Ales whilst driving back from a canoe holiday in Scotland last month.  Having sampled every beer they offer I picked 3 bottles of my 4 favourites.

A month on I opened the first one: Jarl and am sooooooooo impressed.

If you are ever driving by Loch Fyne, I recommend you stop!

I started fermenting a new batch of root beer from dandelion and burdock last night.

The recipe is extremely simple…

First go forage for some dandelion root and make somebody happy by removing a gardener’s more hated weed.  Next forage for burdock root – not so obvious but a quick read up and you’ll be able to pick it out in a hedge row.

Here’s what I used:

15 dandelion roots
3 decent sized burdock roots
A small chunk of ginger root (mine was about 5cm as was all I had left)
700g sugar
dash of honey
7L water

Method:

Scrub the roots to remove dirt, then boil in the biggest saucepan you have – mine is only 1 gallon but you add extra water later. Boil all roots including ginger for an hour.

If you are already into homebrew you’ll know how important hygiene is – ensure everything you use from now on has been sterilised either with boiling water, bleach or a sulfide (campden powder/tablets).

At the end of the boil add the lemon juice and any other ingredients such as honey.

You need to cool the brew now to a temperature you can ferment at – preferably around 30°C (luke warm).

Add the brew to a fermenting bucket and top up with water (pre boiled and cooled is ideal).

Pour in the sugar. If you have a hydrometer use it to check the specific gravity (sugar content) although you already know this more or less since the ingredients for this brew are so simple. Mine was S.G.=1.035 which will give an alcohol strength of about 4.3% when done. More sugar = more alcohol.

Now you can either add the yeast to the bucket or preferably make a yeast starter (see yeast packet) and add that.

Ferment for about a week or until fermentation has stopped (no more bubbles rising to top) with a lid loosely covering bucket.

That’s it for the brewing at minimal cost. The sugar costs around 50p, the rest is minimal and you end up with up to 14 half litre bottles.

Bottling: first sterilise the bottles. Next you’ll want to prime them for some fizz. This is simply adding a small amount of sugar so that fermentation restarts in the bottle building up a little carbon dioxide gas.

Need to be careful here not to over do it as you’ll end up with exploding glass.

Add about a teaspoon (5ml) per litre either to each bottle or as an equivalent amount to the whole batch before syphoning into bottles.

Glass bottles now need to be sealed using a metal crown (cap) or using the swing tops.

Using plastic bottles for your first brew can be wise as you can squeeze the bottle every so often to get an idea of pressure build up.  If you made a mistake you can unscrew the cap slightly to let gas escape. Not ideal but a safe bet for beginners.

I made this a couple of years back using autumn roots which are usually recommended but couldn’t wait this season so the current brew is a Spring batch.

Enjoy.

The theme was Weather and, although I didn’t win, the winner and runner-ups were worthy victors.

My entry is below:

The photo also appears in my photo galleries at Buggslife Photography.

1. “True friendship withstands time, distance and silence…” by a character (Ivan Radovic) from the novel ‘Portrait in Sepia’ by Isabel Allende.
2. “Learning another language means getting an additional soul” by Madame de Stael.
3. “There is in fact no such thing as art for art’s sake, art that stands above classes, art that is detached from or independent of politics. Proletarian literature and art are part of the whole proletarian revolutionary cause.” by Mao Zedong.
4. “Study nature, not books.” by Louis Agassiz.
5. “To expect the world to receive a new truth, or even an old truth, without challenging it, is to look for one of those miracles which do not occur.” by Alfred Russel Wallac.

Geek note:  this site uses the nice widget called XmasB Quotes.

This was started during my early days of homebrew adventures and provided a strong motivation to keep going.

It is made from organic ingredients:

• Rhubarb
• Damson Plums
• Lemon Juice.

The Rhubarb was grown in my own garden and the plums were local.  A lot of love and care went into this early wine and, luckily, it paid dividends.

With a pale, clear pink colour and an ever so smooth taste this country wine is a tad too easy to drink at 10.3 % vol.  Indeed in the early days many a bottle was finished before a secret stock was hidden away for future generations.  This stock is now back and ready for a lucky few…