Nan K. Chase is the co-author of Drink the Harvest. A member of the Garden Writers Association and of the American Society of Journalists and Authors, Nan has been a freelance journalist for 35 years. Her work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Fine Gardening, Old House Journal, American Bungalow, Southern Living, and many other publications. She is a frequent lecturer for garden organizations, writers groups, and business groups, and enjoys doing radio, video, and book festival appearances. She lives in Asheville, North Carolina.

DeNeice C. Guest, co-author of Drink the Harvest, has been studying wild herbs and gardening for over 30 years, and has been making and brewing herbal-based tonics, beverages and medicines for the last decade. She has amassed a collection of some 100 original, kitchen-tested recipes. Guest is a charter member of the Asheville E-Z Gardeners, a garden club in Asheville, North Carolina, founded in 2010, and she created the club’s signature wine, E-Z Gardeners Passionflower-Lemon Balm Wine.

Part 1 - From Garden to Kitchen

1

Introduction

Finding Beverages in Your Garden

The Joys of Juice (and Other Drinks)

Where's the Juice?

You Have the Skills

Your Garden's Already Perfect

2

Growing a Beverage Garden

Meet Our Favorite Plants

Pruning for Production

3

Harvesting & Preparation

Reaping What You've Sown

Is It Ripe Yet?

Equipment: Keeping It Simple

Clear the Decks!

Part 2 - Juices & Fermented Beverages

4

Creating Fruit & Vegetable Drinks

Juice or Cider

How to Make Juice

Refrigeration and Freezing

How to Can

Step-by-Step Canning

Recipes:

Berry Juice

Strawberry Juice

Peach Juice

Big Wow Grape Cider

Crab Apple Juice

Apple Juice

Apple Family Cider

Peerless Pear Cider

Happy Time Pear Juice

Prickly Pear Cactus Juice

Tomato Juice

Sensational-7 Vegetable Drink

DeNeice's Super-Heated Bloody Mary Mixer

5

Creating Wines, Meads & Specialty Drinks

A Garden Full of Wine

The Hardest Part is Patience

How Fermentation Works

Different Kinds of Fermented Drinks

Managing the Must

How to Make Wine

Racking

Time to Bottle

Recipes:

Easy Garden Grape Wine

All-Around Herb Wine

Dandelion Wine

Garden Mint Wine

Parsley Wine

Passionflower-Lemon Balm Wine

Heirloom Potato Wine

Prickly Pear Cactus Wine

Bitchin' Birch Wine

Basic Mead

Red, White, and Blueberry Mead

Mixed Berry Mead

Old Crabby Mead

Spiced Apple Mead

Very Perry Holiday Mead

Crab Apple Rice Wine

Nan's Crab Apple SuperCider

Peerless Perry

Luscious Limoncello

Part 3 - Syrups & Teas

6

Creating Garden Syrups

The Beauty of Homemade Syrups

Just Add Sugar and Boil!

Recipes:

Fruit Juice Syrup

Mint Syrup

Watermelon-Mint Syrup

Concentrated Watermelon Syrup

Peach-Rosemary Syrup

Blueberry-Basil Syrup

Spiced Ginger-Bay Syrup

One World Apple Spice Syrup

Tart Cherry Syrup

Prickly Pear Cactus Syrup

7

Creating Garden Teas

Teas for Two or More

Making Garden Teas

Plants for Making Tea

Recipes:

Citrus Peel Tea

Rose Hip Tea

Making Kombucha

Glossary

Metric Conversion Chart

Resources

Index