Saturday, September 19, 2009

Grapes



The past couple of years we have had plenty of grape vines in "the grape garden," (because all it has in it is grapes - oh yeah, and weeds), but no actual grapes. The previous owners of the house planted them. Last year there were perhaps 2 clusters that never ripened - maybe the birds ate them. Anyway, we were astonished this year to find the vines loaded with grapes and they actually turned purple! We aren't sure what kind of grapes they are, because they don't taste like the kind you buy from the store, so they must be some type for jelly or something... we are very grape illiterate, can anyone give us tips? :-)




The harvest... now we get to make jelly for the first time in our lives...

9 comments:

Eleganza Strings/ The DeLadurantey Family said...

Fun! We have never made grape jelly before.....this year we only made strawberry jam. Have fun in the kitchen!!!

P.S. Tara your letter is going to be in the mail on Monday, I promise:)
Esther

Anonymous said...

We are wondering, we think they look like concord grapes. Concords are green, turning to reddish, then very dark purple. Great for juice and jelly! Let us know if you find out what kind they are for sure.
Thanks for sharing your blessings,
Diane for the Beattys

Annette said...

Diane they sure smell like concords and fit the description. Thank you again for the "tools" - looking forward to making a mess in the kitchen this week! :-)

Kathryn Grace said...

Esther, we've never made any kind of jam, jelly or anything, so this will be interesting... we may just end up with juice and no jelly. :-)

That sounds like what we have, Mrs. Beatty... and Dad said they smell like Welch's grape juice, so that's probably what they are. :-) Thanks for lending us your steamer and canning stuff!

Truus said...

The grape jelly is/was very yummy. It's dissapearing very fast.
I don't know if they are concords though, don't concords make a real dark jelly and juice? This was a very pretty color pink almost.
Oma

Kathryn Grace said...

Oma,

Yeah, we were starting to wonder if maybe they aren't concords after all... the plain juice is very tart, and not that real dark purple.
Glad you like the jelly though. :-)

Anonymous said...

We are wondering with you....in the past our concords have yielded a typical dark purple juice, so...what kind of grapes are they? It will be interesting to find out! Don't you just love mysteries? "The Case of the Unkown Grapes"!!! ;) Next time we see grapes vines for sale we will look for the 'purple-yet-pink' variety :-) Thanks foe sharing your blessings and joy,
Love, Mrs. Beatty

Miss RJ said...

Yummy! Are you going to share pictures of the finished product?? :)

Kathryn Grace said...

Mrs. Beatty - not sure I always like food related mysteries, as then the question arises, "is it poisonous?!" But we've eaten it and been fine so no worries. :-) Still would be nice to know what kind they are. Let us know if you learn anything!

Yes, Robyn, I will post some pictures - just have to get them downloaded to the computer!

 

Copyright © 2011 The Yen Family Blog . All rights reserved. | Designed by PrairieRoseDesigns.com