Gardening through the winter on a smallholding is easiest if you choose the right crops. Some plants need heat to do well—tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, beans—in fact any plant that produces a fruit doesn’t do well when days get short and temperatures drop. Yes, the green bean is a fruit, even though we eat it as a vegetable. The only fruiting vegetable that is an exception is the green pea. It likes to mature in the cooler temperatures of early spring. But it doesn’t do well when temperatures drop in the autumn. So even the green pea doesn’t work well for winter gardening.

Fortunately, most root vegetables and leafy green vegetables tolerate the cold very well. Some plants like purple sprouting broccoli actually require the cold weather of winter to flower. Starting seedlings of purple sprouting broccoli in autumn means you will have beautiful purple broccoli clusters to decorate your fresh salads with. Only someone with their own garden (does that sound like someone who owns their own smallholding?) is going to enjoy that delicious treat.

Almost every member of the brassica family loves cool temperatures. This is great because this is also one of the most nutritious families of vegetables. Broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, turnips and rutabagas are all excellent sources of both calcium and vitamin C when the soil is nurtured properly. Broccoli and kale are excellent sources of Vitamin A as well.

Which of the brassicas are the best choices for overwintering? The leafy ones. Broccoli leaves are very tasty and can be used like kale in soups and salads. Brussels sprouts actually taste better if they’ve been nipped by a bit o’ frost. Kale is also good to have in the winter garden because you can trim off the outer leaves and continue to harvest all through the winter and into the next spring. I have enjoyed the tenderest kale shoots in the spring, sprouting from kale stalks that died back because they weren’t protected from the harsh elements. The plant is amazingly tough.

Root vegetables overwinter in the garden very well. Consider overwintering carrots, parsnips, beets, celeriac, turnips and rutabagas in the garden instead of harvesting them. If the beds are mulched properly the roots won’t freeze. If you cover the beds with greenhouse plastic and pvc hoops, you can harvest fresh greens and vegetables all winter long. The flavour will be fresher and sweeter.

Spinach and lettuce grows slowly in a winter garden, but if you plant an abundant bed of greens in the autumn, you can use the cut and come-again technique to enjoy salads all winter long.

To start a salad garden in the middle of the winter, prepare seed flats with 72 cells (too few cells and the plants have to get too large before you can transplant them; too many and the plants aren’t vigorous enough to tolerate the move into the cold). Use a starter mix that is designed for starting seeds. Sprinkle lettuce seeds on top of the soil and cover the flat with plastic (lettuce needs light to sprout). Follow planting instructions for other greens. Now place the seed flats in a warm and bright location in your home. When the seedlings are about 2 inches tall and the roots well developed, start putting the flats outside during days that are above freezing. This will toughen or “harden” them off.

Now, you can plant the seedlings into your prepared garden bed. The best day is one that is overcast but not raining. That way you know temperatures are less likely to drop below freezing. Do avoid planting when temperatures are expected to fall below freezing. The shock may be too great.

Believe it or not, you can start radishes and beets in cell trays as well. It’s a trick that some Canadians use to get a head start on spring gardening.

Last of all, don’t ignore growing your own celery. You can use the green leafy outer stems all winter to season soups and stews. In the spring, the celery will flower, and you will be able to harvest your own celery seed and make celery salt.

For more about winter gardening on a smallholding see WINTER PLANTING ON A SMALLHOLDING: Ways to Keep Your Winter Garden Warm and WINTER PLANTING ON A SMALLHOLDING: Preparing your planting beds.
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Still looking for Your Smallholding? Visit Greenshifters for the latest smallholdings for sale, rent and exchange.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

This refurbished, fully furnished and ready to move into 4 bedroomed property is currently for sale in Galicia, Spain.  This beautiful property offers the perfect chance to start your own smallholding and live a self-sufficient lifestyle in Spain, in a private and secluded but not isolated location.

Galicia is situated in the Northwest corner of Spain, just above Portugal. It is considered to be the “Green Heart of Spain” with the sunshine and rain. Rural Galicia is very much like Wales and rural France.

With rich lush soil, mild climate and the most truly stunning countryside, it is a good area for growing, polytunnels are popular here. This area produces most of Spain’s milk, beef and cheese. It is famous for it’s bread cooked over wood ovens, and due to the mild climate, its exceptional red and white wines.

The property consists of a country farmhouse of approximately 120m2 with 4 bedrooms and a complete bathroom on the top floor, and on the lower, a large semi covered courtyard /patio, traditional kitchen with wood burning cooking range, lounge/ dining room, and an additional room to be restored which could be another lounge.

The property has it’s own parking, an older stone house with animal pens, large original bread oven and a small wine cellar, approximately 100m2, to be restored, good now for barn/stables.  There is an enclosed garden, chicken house with walled run and adjacent land of approx 1 Acre, with good drainage, Well with pump, beautiful views with apple, pear and sweet chestnut trees.

There are some lovely natural rivers nearby and it is a good area for fishing. The property and land are surrounded by wonderful countryside and forests, excellent for walking, horse riding and fishing. This is a rural area with a relaxed pace of life.

Services to the property include: mains electricity, village mains water, well with pump, telephone and ADSL and the property is  situated 88km from the nearest airport, Santiago de Compostela (approx 1 hour drive with regular flights into London).

The Nearest town is 10 minutes drive with a health centre, chemist, schools, supermarkets, banks, vets, hotel, library, hairdressers, restaurant, cafes and bars. The village has weekly deliveries of fresh bread, wine, frozen fish, mobile supermarket and the school buses collect the children from the villages Monday to Friday.

The current owners of the property are selling due to job relocation and the property is priced to sell at 98,000 Euros (approx £85000 at today’s exchange rate.) 

This property offers an ideal opportunity for those seeking to start their own smallholding and live a more self sufficient lifestyle in a stunningly beautiful location and is currently being promoted on Greenshifters.co.uk. 

(Click here to view full particulars and contact details.)

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

If you want to enjoy a productive winter garden, you will have to trap the sun and insulate plants from the cold. It isn’t as hard as you might think. And it doesn’t have to be expensive either. For years, I had a winter garden even in Canada’s fabled harsh winters. In the UK, keeping your winter garden warm is much easier.

I’ll share with you the easiest and cheapest way to keep your plants cosy. Go down to your local hardware store and purchase PVC pipes that are the lightest schedule available (schedule 40 is too stiff) and 3/4-inches thick. You will want each length to be three metres long. You will also need to purchase rebar that is small enough for the pipe to slide over.

Here’s how to calculate how much PVC pipe and rebar you will need. Measure the length of your planting bed/boxes. You will need one 9-metre pipe for every 3 metres of bed. Add one extra pipe for the second end of the bed. Now, multiply the number of pipes by 0.5. That will tell you how many metres of rebar you need.

Now, gather the rest of the tools you will need—a heavy maul and one u-strap to attach each rebar post to the box (if you have wood sides on your grow-beds). Mark where each pipe is going to go. This will be right beside the edge of the grow box or bed, making sure that the pipes will span the grow box or bed at a right angle. Use the heavy maul to pound the rebar stake into the ground. Leave at least 15 cm of rebar exposed above the box side. Bolt the rebar to the box using the u-straps.

Slide pipes over all the rebar stakes along one side of the bed. Now, gently bend the pipe down so it can slide over the rebar on the opposite side of the bed. This will be next to impossible if you try to do it in the middle of the winter. The pipes will break instead of bending unless you apply heat from a hand torch all along the length of the pipe, but especially to the middle third. It’s also a lot easier to do this job with the help of a friend.

Once you have that done, you can cover the beds with plastic. While greenhouse plastic is the best option because it will last for 5 or more years, if your budget is really tight you can use clear construction plastic. You will need enough plastic to enclose the entire grow bed. Plan on adding an extra 15 metres to the length of the bed. Drape the plastic over the hoops, making sure that it hangs evenly to each side and at the ends. I tuck the ends like an envelope, folding in the sides first and then pulling down the centre.

There is a great clip on the market that I used in Canada and the U.S. known as the Garden Clip® Fastener. It holds plastic to PVC pipes securely in all but the most windy conditions. This is the best way to secure your plastic. But I know that other methods work as well. For years, I couldn’t afford the clips, so I used materials I had on hand. For years I just gathered all the stones in my garden and put them on top of the plastic that reached the ground. To keep wind from blowing under the plastic, I mulched all the way around my grow bed with grass clippings saved over the summer. Then someone gave me some lumber so I stapled the plastic to sections of board. When I needed to get into the grow box, I just removed the stones, or propped up the boards. I decided that shorter beds were more convenient because I could often just reach in from the ends instead of having to move several rows of stones.

I have found that placing plastic jugs full of water in the grow bed helps keep the beds warmer. If you paint them black, they do an even better job, because they absorb heat from the sun. You can also use black plastic pails. If you place one 40 litre pail every 6 metres, on the north side of the bed, the plants will capture all the rays they need while the black pail will catch the heat, even when the sun isn’t shining brightly. Using a dark mulch helps as well. In the spring, I’ve used fresh grass clippings as a mulch (that saved my tomatoes from a late frost one year).

Of course there are more expensive ways to keep your winter garden warm. You can invest in a greenhouse. Acrylic or fibreglass panels offer the most efficient heat retention. Acrylic stays clear longer. Glass lets sun and warmth in very well, but unless you invest in double panes, all that warmth will flow out at night unless you cover the greenhouse with an insulating blanket. Even with insulated glass, installing insulating shades is highly recommended.

You can also install water pipes in the bottoms of your grow beds. By running hot water through the pipes, you provide warmth to the root zone which then transfers to the entire grow bed. This is a costly option best saved to a small greenhouse in which you want to nurture some tropical treasures or grow winter tomatoes.

So now you know how to keep your grow boxes from freezing. The next step for preparing a winter garden on a smallholding is to choose the right vegetables. We’ll share why fruiting vegetables don’t do well in a winter garden in WINTER PLANTING ON A SMALLHOLDING: Choosing the Right Winter Crops

Still looking for Your Smallholding? Visit Greenshifters for the latest smallholdings for sale, rent and exchange.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

Preparing your planting beds

Winter farming is one of the best ways to enjoy fresh produce year round. If you plan carefully, you can enjoy fresh salad greens, peas, beets and carrots all through the cold winter months. And you can get a head start on your spring garden while you are at it.

One of the most important concerns for a winter garden is light. Days are shorter and the sun is also lower in the sky. No matter how beautiful a greenhouse or cold frame you build, if it isn’t placed in a location where it will get the maximum light available, the plants inside will not do well. So the first thing you must do is plan the location for your winter plantings so it can take advantage of any sunny days you have.

Once you have the right location selected, then you need to consider the needs of the plants. While you can plant straight into the ground, you can only do this if you prepare the ground carefully. The first step to proper ground preparation is to double dig the area.

Double digging is a technique that aerates the soil while bringing nutrients up from deep in the ground. The basic technique is the same no matter what size of bed you make. First, you remove the top layer of soil from an area that is one spade wide by one spade deep. Set this soil to the side. Fill the resulting hole about half full with compost. Add lime and a good quality organic fertilizer using the recommendations on the package. It can be a good idea to add some kelp meal at this stage as well, once again using the recommendations on the package.

Now, dig down so you loosen the soil beneath the mulch about one spade depth again. This will mix the mulch and fertilizer together with the subsoil. If you notice that this fluffs everything up so that the trench seems to be full, don’t worry. That’s what you want.

Now move over one spade’s width. Dig down one spade’s depth, tossing that soil onto the soil you just loosened up. Fill this new trench with compost, lime, fertilizer and kelp meal. Loosen the soil at the bottom of the trench, mixing the compost and everything else.

Repeat these steps until you have loosened the entire planting bed. When you reach the end, add the soil that you set aside. The main thing that you will notice is that when you are done, you will have the equivalent of a raised bed, with the soil being anywhere from 10 to 15 cm higher than the ground around it. The roots of your plants will love it!

You don’t want to walk on all your hard labour, so stick with beds that are around one metre wide. This is an easy width to work with because you can reach into the middle of the bed without losing your balance. Much wider than one meter and the bed becomes less functional.

Even if you plan on using grow boxes, double dig the soil beneath each grow box. There are several reasons to do this. 1) You can work manure into the very bottom layer (instead of compost). The manure will provide bottom heat all through the winter, but because it is in the bottom of the trench it won’t burn the roots of the plants. Next spring, the beds will be ready for a second double digging and produce a wonderful crop. 2) It will improve your yield considerably and support the health of your plants. 3) Aerated soil does not conduct cold as effectively. You don’t want the cold coming in from the side and damaging the roots of your plants.

Many smallholders find that putting a low border around each bed is helpful. While bricks are high enough, they conduct cold. Surrounding the bed with 100mm by 200mm sleepers will insulate the bed from the cold.

The next step for preparing a winter garden is to cover and insulate your planting beds. There are several ways to do this, which we will discuss in the next article, WINTER PLANTING ON A SMALLHOLDING: Ways to Keep Your Winter Garden Warm.

Still looking for Your Smallholding? Visit Greenshifters for the latest smallholdings for sale, rent and exchange.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

For most of us the dream of owning or renting a smallholding and fulfilling our dreams of becoming smallholders, also means achieving a level of self sufficiency and often becoming our own boss. For many though the reality is that at least to begin with we have to try and set up and run our new smallholding lives whilst holding on to our full time jobs.

But there is an answer – building your own work from home business success. The beauty of working from home is not just that it allows us to work full time from our smallholdings, to really work for ourselves and to finally be in control of our own destiny, but it also perhaps more importantly for some allows us to live anywhere.

The advantage of being able to live anywhere is that whilst you may not be able to afford your smallholding dreams just yet because of high property prices in your area and the need to stay close to your current employer, you may well be able to find the perfect smallholding within your price range and abilities in a more remote or rural area.

But starting a business from home can be a minefield and many are convinced that it is impossible. Wading through the thousands of ‘get rich quick’ schemes and rip offs can take forever and puts many people off of ever trying to achieve work from home business success. We often see advertisements directed at smallholders from companies offering to build you an instant website, but what many people don’t realise is that putting up a website isn’t enough, what makes the difference is getting people to visit your website and that is something you have to plan and work towards from the very beginning. If you just build it or pay someone to do it for you ‘they WON’T come’ but if you build it correctly from the beginning, ‘they WILL come’ and your business WILL grow.

Despite all these false promises, very rarely there are companies that actually deliver what they offer, and are highly regarded and respected for doing so by the thousands of individuals who have fulfilled their own work from home dreams. Site Build It! is a company that has achieved just that. They have helped thousands of people build long term and profitable businesses online and have been doing so for many years.

Site Build It! isn’t a ‘get rich quick’ scheme and it does take hard work and motivation to achieve work from home business success, but it does provide everything you need to build a successful online business. All you need to bring as SBI says is your ‘brains and motivation’ and they will show you how to build your online business from the very beginning.

How do we know this? Because we have successfully used SBI ourselves and are well on our way to achieving our own work from home dreams. But it took us a very long time to find them and we fell for many scams and ‘get rich quick’ schemes along the way. We know that thousands of other people have the same dreams we did and we’d like to share the knowledge we now have and hopefully save you the hassle and money that we wasted ourselves.

SBI! helps you to turn your hobby, passion or the skills you may not even know you have, into a viable online business. Most people don’t realise that any topic can make money with a website.

And you need no programming skills or webdesign knowledge, and you don’t have to have a product to sell to make money. Just bring your brain and motivation. SBI has all the tools you need, and they take you by the hand and teach you step by step how to use everything.

They help you find the perfect topic for your site, to build it, to get traffic to it, and then they even teach you how to make money with it, no matter what it’s about!

Have a look at the Video Tour…

But don’t just take our word for it, click here to hear from others who have done just this and are enjoying the freedom and success of working for themselves.

Worried that you’re not ready to build an online business? If you can write a memo, then you’re ready! SBI! provide everything you need to build a successful online business. Alongside their written and video Action Guides that show you everything you need to know and guide you through the process, they also have a busy Forum filled with SBI owner’s who are happy to help answer your queries, SBI Coaches who can help you with more advanced features you may decide to have on your site later on, and even an e-learning course.

If you are motivated to see your dream of extra income and financial independence come true, but would prefer to have an experienced SBI owner walk you through, try SBI! eLearning.

SBI! eLearning takes you by the hand beginning with a plan and a step-by-step process that has proven to work across industries, across continents and across age groups.

Over the past two years, SiteSell has offered the “Building A Successful Business Using The Internet” course in universities and colleges around the world – Australia, Canada and America, just to name a few. SBI! eLearning was developed to meet the demand from those who preferred to learn SBI from an experienced SBI Owner but were unable to take a class in their own community.

With SBI! eLearning, you’ll learn at a steady pace through the guidance of an experienced SBI! owner, as well as from your fellow classmates as they share their experience and tips.

SBI! eLearning is designed for people like you, a “do-it-yourselfer on a schedule” who wants to do all the learning from the comfort of your home computer, PDA or any Internet-ready location. No need for weekly trips to a classroom!

Spend just 12 weeks with SBI! eLearning, to smoothly and systematically get your own online business up and running on a solid foundation.

One thing we really loved about SBI from the start was that they were so confident we would love their product that they offer a full money back guarantee, were more than happy to answer any questions we had (and there were many!), and demonstrated that their product really works for anyone with examples of sites built by ordinary people just like you and me.

Whether you are still a dreamer or a realist, building an income from home takes time and the sooner you start the sooner you can begin making those dreams a reality. So whether you already have a smallholding and are looking for a new way to earn income or are still trying to take the plunge and are looking for a way to finally escape the ‘rat race’ we would wholeheartedly recommend you take a look at SBI! and the benefits it offers. It may not be your thing, but then again it could be just what you are looking for.

Click on the links below to learn more about SBI! and how you too can build your own work from home business success:

If you have some specific questions and would like to talk to someone who has the answers click on this link.

If you’d like to see the complete tool set that comes with Site Build It! go here.

Take a look at the kind of traffic that many of their customers are getting here.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

The Women’s Institutes’ National Cookery School is to play a key role at The Edible Garden Show after agreeing to stage a series of cookery demonstrations and other food-related events at the show.

The WI National Cookery School, based at Denman College in Oxfordshire, has become one of the UK’s most popular cookery institutions since its launch last year.

Allie Hogsbjerg, a spokesman for the WI, said: “We are delighted to have been invited to provide cookery demonstrations at The Edible Garden Show. It promises to be a super show and experts from the WI will be on hand throughout the event with great ideas and recipes for your home-grown produce.”

But it’s not only cookery advice that the WI will be concentrating on. Their team will also run seminars on preserving, baking and even bread-making.

There will also be a high-profile event on the opening day where the WI will be promoting its ‘SOS for honey bees’ campaign aimed at highlighting the plight of the honey bee and the vital role they play in pollinating plants for fruits and crops.

Allie Hogsbjerg said: “Home-grown food, sustainability and safe-guarding the honey bee are all massively important environmental issues. The Edible Garden Show is an excellent vehicle to promote our various campaigns and help to educate the public about the benefits of growing their own food.”

The Edible Garden Show is the UK’s first-ever national garden show dedicated exclusively to ‘Grow Your Own’ food. It has been launched amid the phenomenal explosion of interest in ‘Grow Your Own’ and is a “must-see” event whether you are a seasoned gardener who spends every spare minute on the allotment or a complete novice daunted by planting a few vegetables in the back garden.

The Edible Garden Show 2010 will be staged over three days from Friday, March 19 to Sunday, March 21 at Stoneleigh Park – Britain’s most famous agricultural venue.

The ultimate Grow Your Own event, the show is targeted towards anyone passionate about Grow Your Own, Brew Your Own… or anything to do with healthy eating or home produce. From fruit and veg to bread making, from poultry to organic herbs, and from bee keeping to home brewing, there will be something of interest for all the family.

Tickets for The Edible Garden Show are now on sale via the ticket hotline 0871 231 0847 or on-line at www.theediblegardenshow.co.uk

Admission is £12 for adults, £9.60 for over 65s and children aged 11-16 (20% concession on the full adult price), with under 11-year-olds free when accompanied by a full fare paying adult (maximum two children per adult). Students with a valid Student’s Union Card also qualify for the 20% price concession.

For information on how to become a sponsor or an exhibitor at the show, contact Show Director Anna Campagnoli on 07876338400.

You can find out everything you want to know about the show and all the very latest news from the Edible Garden Show website.

About the WI National Cookery School:

Founded on years of experience and culinary expertise, the WI Cookery School programme combines the teaching of traditional skills with innovative and creative ideas. The WI Cookery School offers a fantastic range of over 100 day schools, residential courses and family courses.

For information on the full programme of courses, call 01865 391991 or email info@denman.org.uk

Still looking for Your Smallholding? Visit Greenshifters for the latest smallholdings for sale, rent and exchange.

]]> http://www.rural-smallholdings.co.uk/running-smallholding/smallholder-events-wi-cookery-school%e2%80%99s-a-tasty-dish-at-the-edible-garden-show/feed/ 0 http://www.rural-smallholdings.co.uk/smallholding-properties/traditional-13-acre-smallholding-for-sale-in-aberdeenshire/ http://www.rural-smallholdings.co.uk/smallholding-properties/traditional-13-acre-smallholding-for-sale-in-aberdeenshire/#comments Sat, 23 Jan 2010 15:10:29 +0000 Rural Smallholdings http://www.rural-smallholdings.co.uk/?p=1370

This traditional croft smallholding with cottage, barn conversion, various outbuildings, sheds, 30ft hardwood greenhouse, orchard and 13 acres of land is currently for sale in Aberdeenshire.

Situated 30 miles from Aberdeen and located between the towns of Turriff and Aberchider, both providing excellent amenities and in the beautiful Forglen area, the property is in the middle of the Castle route and just 10 miles from the coast.

The Cottage is bordered on two sides by mixed hedging giving privacy and sheltering the garden for the more tender plants, the mature garden is well established with mixed beds, rockerys, herb garden, waterfall and ponds, trellises abound with mixed Clematis and Roses, creating a truly beautiful rural idyll.

The 2 bedroomed Barn Conversion is suitable for a wide variety of uses and offers the opportunity for a second income through holiday and rental let.

The land comprising approximately 13 acres is laid down to permanent pasture and cut most years for hay, and includes a small woodland and a burn bordering one side of the property.

The property offers an ideal opportunity for the smallholder seeking self sufficiency and is being promoted on Greenshifters.co.uk.
(View full particulars)

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

Amid the current huge growth in interest in self sufficiency and grow your own, a new national garden show dedicated to these topics is being launched this year.

The Edible Garden Show is being staged from Friday 19th March to Sunday 21st March at Britain’s most famous agricultural venue, Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire.

The Edible Garden Show 2010 will provide a unique opportunity for people from all walks of life, whether town or country dweller, realist or dreamer, novice or experienced gardener to unite with like minded individuals, learn from the professionals and purchase from the wide range of gardening essentials on show.

Whether your interest lies in growing your own fruit and vegetables, poultry keeping, organic herbs, sausage making, bee keeping, home baking, home brewing, or you just have a general interest in being self sufficient, the Edible Garden Show is the place to visit for all those with an interest in growing your own.

As well as exhibitors, the event will include a host of seminars and a packed programme of practical demonstrations. The Women’s Institute National Cookery School is also set to play a key role with their series of cookery demonstrations and food related events.

The new show has already won official endorsements from the National Society of Allotment and Leisure Gardeners, and the Royal Agricultural Society of England, two of the most high profile organisations in the gardening and agricultural world.

Billed as ‘THE ultimate Grow Your Own event for visitors and exhibitors alike’, the Edible Garden Show will also provide a unique opportunity for exhibitors to present their products and services to the buying public and stands are available to book now.

To book tickets for The Edible Garden Show 2010 and learn more about the event, visit the show’s website here.

Still looking for Your Smallholding? Visit Greenshifters for the latest smallholdings for sale, rent and exchange

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

This beautiful traditional smallholding with cottage, outbuildings, self contained studio apartment and 3 acres of organic land is currently available to rent in Ireland.

Situated in North West Ireland this outstanding property includes it’s own river, meadow and forest and was featured in the UK’s ‘Country Homes & Interiors’ Magazine.

Whilst located in a beautiful rural and peaceful location, the property is just 3 miles from the nearest town and offers great potential for many business opportunities.

Visit Greenshifters.co.uk for more information and photographs of this outstanding property (View full particulars).

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

MAKING PEAR CIDER

Replacing Apples with Pears is All it Takes

Extracting the juice from the pears is the first step to making pear cider, AKA perry. In fact, if you know how to extract the juice from apples, you are already on your way to making pear cider. The only major difference between pears and apples is the need to keep a special watch out for rotting fruit. Most varieties of pears can be turned into juice right off the tree, unless they are picked green.

For the best pear cider, you may want to add a few tart apples into the mix. Pears tend to be very sweet, but often boring, so a little twist of apple can add character to the perry.

You will need the same equipment to make pear cider that you need for making apple cider.

• 1 hydrometer
• 1 Campden tablet for every 4 litres of juice
• 1 25-litre Carboy, preferably glass
• 20 litres fresh pear juice
• 1 Rubber stopper and fermentation lock
• 5 millilitres cider, wine or champagne yeast for every 5 litres of juice

The sugar content of the pear juice is essential to success. Use the hydrometer to check the concentration. If the reading is over 1070, you have enough sugar to ferment and preserve the pear cider. If the reading is lower, you will need to add a sugar syrup or honey. If you use honey, use a mild honey, such as orange blossom or clover honey or the pear’s subtle flavour will be overwhelmed. Stir the syrup into the juice (if needed) and then pour into the carboy using a funnel.

Add 5 Campden tablets to the carboy and seal. It will take at least two hours for the Campden tablets to kill the wild yeasts the fruit picked up from the air. These renegade yeasts can throw off the fermentation process.

Wait at least two hours, overnight if temperatures are cool, before you prepare the yeast mixture. You want all of the action from the Campden tablets to be over before you add the wine or champagne yeast. Prepare the yeast mixture by warming up a 500 ml. of pear juice until it is 38 – 40°C. Any warmer, and you will kill the yeast. Stir in the yeast. When the yeast begins to bubble, pour the mixture into the carboy. Stir with a sterile rod. Place the rubber stopper and fermentation lock on. Now place your pear cider in a warm place, but not over 40°C. Wrap the bottle with a blanket to protect it from cold drafts and temperature fluctuations.

Yeast is very sensitive to temperature. At 10°C, the yeast will grow very slowly. At 20°C the yeast will grow twice as fast. The yeast grows twice as fast again when it reaches 30°C. Depending on the temperature of the room you store the carboy in, it can take anywhere from two to four weeks for the pear cider to ferment completely.

When the hydrometer says that the specific gravity of the pear cider has reached 1005, your perry has enough alcohol to preserve it. Stop fermentation by adding another five Campden tablets to kill off any remaining yeast.

Siphon the perry into another sterile carboy. Cover tightly, and let the cider stand for several days to allow any additional sediments to settle out. Rack off into bottles and seal.

Now, isn’t that simple? The key is cleanliness throughout the entire perry cider making process. Make sure the carboy is sterile. Make sure the bottles that you decant the perry into are sterile. And of course, you need to be patient. Pear cider takes time to reach its prime.

Click on the links below for more info on learning to make your own apple cider:

Presses and Crushers

A Guide to All Things Cider at Old Scrump’s Cider House

How to Make Cider – A Complete Guide

How to Make Cider – A Video Guide

Still looking for Your Smallholding? Visit Greenshifters for the latest smallholdings for sale, rent and exchange.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

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