Sunday, June 1, 2014

Hard pear cider and our reuse or refuse challenge

Back in September I posted about the hard pear cider I made with the pears we got from our trees and I promised to update you about how it turned out. It took until a few weeks ago before it developed into a nice almost sparkling wine. The alcohol content is unclear because I do not have an instrument to test it but what is known is that it will get you buzzed. It turned out dry just like I wanted but it wasn't as carbonated as I had hoped. Overall, it was a success.

It tastes really nice over ice.
Will I do this with our pears again this year? No. We do not have a cider press so I put all the pears through my green star juicer which look forever and it was a great big mess. I do not plan on becoming more than just a hobby hooch maker so I don't see the benefit in investing in a cider press. When I make it again, I will find a local source of  fresh pressed apple cider and start with that. This means we will be eating, selling and probably giving a way a lot of fresh pears in the Fall.

I also wrote awhile back about all of the miscellaneous items that we inherited when we moved in. I wanted some help with creative ideas to put this stuff to good use rather than in a landfill. We still have quite a collection of items to put to reuse but we have made progress. Mainly for the world's most interesting chicken coop. 

Farmer D used most of the old plywood signs to make walls over the insulation in the chicken coop and some old headboards will be filled with plants to help create a beautiful garden that acts as a barrier around the chicken run. There was already a built in shelving unit in the coop so we removed some of the shelves to made nesting boxes. 


These will make good planters but not for edibles. I have no idea what they were treated with. 
This is a look at how our chicken run turned out. We split it into 2 sections so we can alternate them between sides.

Using all the containers we have to create a garden around the perimeter. Looks like I need some more. 
When it comes to re-purposing stuff around here, we have a way to go but I have been seeing some great ideas and I have some projects in mind so we will continue to keep you updated. We did get a new treasure that we have made the mascot of our coop.

Introducing the most interesting chicken keeper in the world

Gidget is depressed. She wanted free range chickens.