We have four grape vines in our yard and even though we were not home over the summer months to care for and prune them, the fruit is abundant. The grapes have a marvelous flavor, but unfortunately the skins are bitter and they are filled with too many seeds for anyone in the family to really enjoy. Each day the smell of ripened grapes filters through our window and I feel bad that they are seeming to go to waste. Thanks to my dad--who is ever full of agricultural advice, motivated me to try to at least make grape juice. Since the kids had no school today (in celebration of our city's patron Saint) I figured it would make for a good productive project on this gorgeous fall day.
We seemed to barely make a dent in our grape collection, but three hefty bowls of grapes were harvested and enough to get started with...
Thankful to have a large wash basin in our laundry room, we made sure to give the grapes a good washing to remove bugs and dirt...
Then with a gentle pulling the grapes basically fell off their stems with greater ease than I expected...
Another rinse...Then off to crush with a potato masher to release the juices...
After bringing to a boil, they gently simmered for 10 minutes...
Straining came next...
The fresh grapes yielded 7+ liters of white grape juice...
Best of all, the taste was approved by everyone!
We have five days or so to drink the juice or I better start to learn how to make and can grape jelly or juice. If anyone has any recipes or tips on either, let me know because there are a whole lot more grapes left on the vines!
2 comments:
Way to go! There is farmer blood in there yet! Love Dad
My mom (Jonathan's Grandma "Farm") had several large grape vines (purple) and she canned homemade grape juice and jelly as well. I think canning may be in your future!
Love,
Mom Kleis
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