Cactus Juice Is Bottled. 02.01.2010

We bottled the prickly pear melomel.  It is a gorgeous color.  We of course sampled and it is still a bit hot, but has a smooth almost smoky flavor.  It is a little drier than I would of like, but still very good.

We ended up with 18 bottles or just over 19 liters.  Think about buying wine at ten dollars a bottle.  Now figure we spent approximately $30 to make this batch.  If you like wine or honey mead, it is well worth it to make your own.  There is some initial investment in equipment, but it will pay for itself in the first couple of batches depending on your setup.  This is how we take one step closer to self sufficiency.

Read W.U.F. Update September 18, 2009 to read more about this batch of Cactus Juice.

Pics from recent trips to Mom and Dads

Greetings all,

Here are photos from my recent trips to the ranch. My brother Evan, his wife Danielle, and their two kids, Logan and Dylan were up from Phoenix so we went to visit the last weekend in August. The first set of pics are from that trip. We had to come back to Colorado Springs so I could go back to work, but I started my vacation the following week and got to visit with Evan and Family some more before they had to leave. we stayed a few more days. We are catching up yard and house work, and making prickly pear wine. More about that later. Prior to our vacations, we have been busy making jelly and salsa. More about that later as well.