The Cottage Smallholder


stumbling self sufficiency in a small space

Pea pod wine – sounds disgusting, must be good!

peapod and damson wineThe first wine that I wanted to make was Pea Pod. This wine had a starring role in an episode of The Good Life. As our peas had barely produced a flower let alone a pod, I searched the vegetable section of Tesco and found fresh peas in the pod. I hadn’t realised how light pea pods are. As I podded steadily, Danny made a mercy dash to buy yet more packs to get the right weight of pods for the must.The next few weeks driving the car became quite hazardous as it was hard not to keep an eye on the hedgerows for damsons and plums. Kind clients let us loose in their gardens and orchards for mad picking sessions. We spent hours on ladders, picking blackberries and elderberries in our garden. We even bought a walking stick so as to grab branches that were out of reach. The house was filled with buckets and the airing cupboard in our bedroom was cleared out to accommodate rows of demijohns. We’d wake to the glug glug glug of the water in the airlocks and a strong smell of alcohol wafted around our bed.

Finally, we had managed to fill eleven demijohns. The frenzy died down. The only task to do was to rack the wine every month or so and wait for the fermentation process to stop. We’re still waiting and it’s a year since that trip to Somerton.


  Leave a reply

7 Comments

  1. Can I use young pods with small peas or do I have to wait until they mature?

  2. Veron ica

    my peapod wine wont stop fermenting, i started it in august 2011 we thought it had finished so racked it, now its fermenting again,will it ever stop? 🙂

    • Fiona Nevile

      Hi Veronica

      Yes eventually it will stop. I had the same problem when I topped up with sugar solution rather than boiled and cooled water.

  3. trisha

    i am about to try making pea pod wine for the first time but do not have enough pods. can i freeze the ones i have until i get enough?

    • Fiona Nevile

      Hi Trisha

      Yes you can freeze the pods until you have enough!

  4. brian spencer

    no need to wait 2 years, 2 months is quite okay
    and it is gorgeous(also no need for viagra),trust me.
    this is THE best wine that I have EVER made.

  5. marchandoj

    i just finished putting together my first batch of pea pod wine, luckily for me with pods from my pea plants in the garden! My husband thinks I am nuts. How long did it take before the wine was drinkable, am I right in thinking about 2 years? thanks for all your great advice

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

HTML tags are not allowed.

2,261,822 Spambots Blocked by Simple Comments


Copyright © 2006-2024 Cottage Smallholder      Our Privacy Policy      Advertise on Cottage Smallholder


Skip to toolbar
HG