The first time I laid eyes on our current home in Wisconsin it was in February.
Everything was covered in snow and ice. I had no idea what type of trees, vines and plants
were on the property and at the time it was not a huge concern.
When Spring decided to show up and my stuff bloomed out
I made great discoveries. I had an apple tree, two pear trees, tons of wild berry bushes
asparagus,chives and a huge grapevine.
I was very skeptical about future production because our place had not exactly been
well maintained the last couple of years. In fact, I heard neighbors talk of how
the yard had gone unmowed for an entire year!
But this overgrown vine produced!
And what do you do when you have grapes?
Make jelly of course.
Here is the mass of vines.
They produced great Concord grapes
I picked a bowl full. About 5 pounds or so.
I rinsed them off, removed the stems and put them in a pot. The jelly directions suggested that you mash them with a potato masher but I didnt have one so I used my submersible blender instead.
Worked great.
Turned the stove on to bring them to a boil.
It sure looked pale and foamy.
After they boiled, I ran them through a strainer and had grape juice.
It wasn't as purple as I thought it would be but nothing you could buy in the store
would ever smell as 'grapey' as my kitchen did at this time!
After I brought it back to a boil, I added the sugar and pectin.
Then I jarred it up. All that work and just four and a half pints.
Sure am thankful our winter meals don't rely on what I can in the summer.
Of course I had to try it out as soon as it cooled and set.
It is a success.
