Generally speaking, wild grapes are a pain in the rear. They grow all over everything, and their leaf cover is so dense that they inevitably kill the plants they grow over. Harvesting them is just as big of a problem, because first you have to get to the fruit, and then they are so small that it takes forever to pick them off the vines.
Yesterday, dad and I pulled the grapevines that were covering one of our lilac bushes down. I harvested the grapes (not sure what I am doing with them yet) and the vines both. The vines will be used to create bases for my Gnome Homes. I have been reading up on basketweaving, and will be using a pretty basic weave to create cones to "shingle", making the roofs. Pretty cool, huh?
Today, I am cleaning all the vine out of the grapes I picked, preparing them to be processed into either jelly, juice, or syrup. Not sure which way I will go yet. My fingers are purple to the palm. I have been cleaning them for over an hour, and I have made very little progress. It seems very similar to shelling peas. All that work for so little result. Still, I am sure that whatever I make from them will be tasty.
1 comment:
Ooooh, whatever you wind up making with the grapes, I'd love to see a picture when you're through. I bet it'll have a beautiful purple color to it. Not much looks better, in the dead of winter, than a glass jar containing a beautiful, jewel-toned jelly or jam or some-such with the sun shining through.
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