Cuckoo Heralds Return of Cider & Perry

Yesterday, whilst pottering in the garden, the distinctive call of a Cuckoo could be heard in the valley. This is good news on a couple of levels.

Firstly, the Cuckoo has been designated as having 'Red Status' by the RSPB, which means the species has experienced severe decline in recent years. This part of the Welland Valley must therefore represent some kind of refuge for these birds, either that or some local wag with a Cuckoo Clock is playing tricks on us again!

The return of Cuckoos to these shores is a sure sign that Spring, and warmer weather is now firmly established, and in cidermaking lore, a reasonable indicator that the new season cider and perry is ready to be tapped. We're slightly ahead of the Cuckoo, and have already delivered cider and perry to our local 'Cider Tap' the Red Lion, Middleton.

Dry cider lovers will enjoy our Red Kite Yarlington Mill Cider (7%), whilst those with a sweeter tooth might like to try a naturally sweet Blakeney Red Perry (4%). Medium fans can always ask for a blend of the two.

'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...'

Tremlett's Bitter blossom, our earliest Cider Apple variety



Calville Rouge D'Hiver



 

Eaglethorpe Community Orchard



Pear Blossom at Eaglethorpe Community Orchard







Blakeney Red - The Sweetest Pear

Blossom on Pear Tree
Middleton Village Orchard

Well that was one hot-hot weekend.


Friday was spent drinking some very good (and some not so good) ciders and perries in the metropoli' of Nottingham and Beeston, of which I'll write more at a later date. Saturday was just made for a spot of gardening. Sowing seeds, constructing Sweet Pea supports, mowing the tufty remnants of our hen-pecked lawn, and generally working up a good honest thirst. Three cheers then for Red Kite Cider. Three cheers too for a profusion of Pear Blossom and generally frost-free nights. Looks like it could be a good year for perry pears.



Sunday is strictly a day of rest in the Rockingham Forest Cider household. I spent most of the day 'resting' in the ciderhouse with a length of hose and several empty barrels, whilst Karen was 'resting' at Saddington Car Boot Sale, along with a boot-full of highly desirable junk. Not much of a rest then!



'Polymeric Perry Pear Tannins' floating
on top of this batch of Blakeney Red 

I'd earmarked this Sunday as the day for barreling up cider and perry for festivals at the Crown, Elton, and the Swan & Rushes, Leicester (see right). I've selected a lateish pressing of Yarlington Mill/Dabinett/unknown Sweet/Bramley, which has cleared nicely for a bittersweet blend, and weighs in at 7% abv. This will go out as a Medium version of our Rockingham Forest Cider.



More intriguing is the perry I've chosen, a single variety, naturally sweet Blakeney Red. Most of our perries have finished quite sweet this year, although one or two are still fermenting away quite merrily. This one has finished with a very high gravity (1.023), giving a full-on sweet perry, not too tannic, and clear as a bell in the glass. It's lovely stuff, but thanks to the higher than normal gravity, it's unusually low in alcohol at around 4% abv. The holy-grail of cider and perry making is to produce a naturally sweet, relatively low alcohol drink, so I shouldn't complain. Whilst it's well-known that many people prefer their cider and perry on the sweeter side, we've also noticed that some people (women in particular) can be quite put off by the high strength of the more traditional drink. A 4% perry is not something we would normally aim for, but it's certainly a very 'commercial' strength, and I think this perry will sell very well indeed, particularly if we're blessed with more of this lovely warm weather. Oh! sorry, I forgot it's a Bank Holiday. Never fear, it should go equally well with rain...

Ciderhouse News - April Pt.1

• An New Season batch of our Red Kite Yarlington Mill Cider (7.4%) is now available at the Red Lion, Middleton. It's a lovely reddish golden colour, quite soft, and a little spicy, with soft tannin in the finish. Try it as an accompaniment to warm Spring sunshine, Sunday papers, or a spot of gardening.

• Details of the forthcoming Swan & Rushes Cider & Cheese Festival are beginning to filter out. Grant has successfully applied to close part of Grange Lane to traffic, setting up tables and chairs during daylight hours so that even more people can enjoy the ciders. The cider and perry list is still in its early stage, but already looks very good, featuring some of the very best producers in the Three Counties... and us! Stinking Bishop cheese is already confirmed, and subject to condition, we may send a barrel of our own 'Stinking Bishop' Perry (aka. Malvern Hills) to accompany it.

• That's it for now...

Mulching - When Hens Go Bad!

The rainy season has finally arrived after one of the driest Winters I can remember. So far it's hardly been the kind of prolonged downpour we really need, but welcome all the same. Let's hope 'Showery' April lives up to its reputation.

With the soil a little bit more moist it's a good time to Mulch the cider apple trees, taking the opportunity to give the them a good weeding too. We've got plenty of well-rotted Chicken manure, which is pretty good stuff for fruit trees, but once again we've got the problem of how to keep the feathery producers of all that manure from scratching it all away just as soon as we've applied it. The Rockingham Forest Cider Hens have the free-range of the garden, we wouldn't have it any other way.

I've tried a weed-suppressing membrane weighted down with bricks, which works well enough, but looks pretty dreadful. This is a garden orchard after all, so things need to look nice as well as be productive. It's time to take things to the next level. Keeping the membrane, I've now invested in a bag of large natural pebbles as a permanent ground cover . Advantages: Looks quite nice, rain can easily penetrate, seems to do the job well. Disadvantages: Expensive, probably not an environmentally sound aggregate, Hens may still be able to scratch the smaller pebbles off.

I'll give it a few weeks to see how the pebbles perform, then it might be worth having a ton delivered and doing the other 30 trees (gulp!)


The Problem: Exposed roots... and weeds

 

The Culprits: Holes Dug (no job too small)



The Solution: Pebble Dashed, Hens Miffed