Two years ago I trimmed my family’s grape vines in the springtime before they broke dormancy. They had overgrown and needed management, and for the previous few years had set grapes that then dried up before ripening. I learned that the plant’s excess vines might cause unripe fruit to drop off.
Apparently grapes are very forgiving when it comes to pruning — you can prune them back by 80% and they will be just fine. I accidentally put this to the test, when I cut one plant back farther than I intended.
The grape vines grew back beautifully. Last year we had a few bunches of grapes, but since the second year growth this year, we had more than we’ve had in years. In total, seven pounds from our cultivated vines and we found an additional five pounds of wild grapes (by “found” I mean my sister and I climbed on the roof of my house to reach them).
Our first step in processing them was to sort the good grapes from the stems, green grapes and a few that were past ripe. Then we weighed them, and picked recipes to try.
First I wanted to make grape jam. Since this involved canning and the largest amount of grapes, it was a priority.
After looking at some recipes I was disappointed that we didn’t have more grapes — several recipes informed me that eight cups of grapes plus sugar would yield six (8-ounce) jars of jam. Eight cups was about three pounds, so it felt like my grapes would disappear fast, without even a year’s worth of jam to show for it.
I made a double batch of jam, using all the wild concord grapes we harvested and supplemented with some cultivated ones.
To remove the large seeds we first squeezed the grapes out of their skins, and cooked down the mush until we could get it through a strainer. After tossing the seeds, we mixed the peels back in with the mush and sugar.
Since I often find recipes to be too sweet I cut the sugar — instead of using 12 cups for a double batch I used 10.
We cooked the jam until it reached 220 degrees, and then poured it into sterilized jars and popped them back into a water bath to can.
Part way through the process it occurred to me that I don’t even like grape jam. So maybe it was OK that we didn’t have more to make.
But then I tasted the jam — and it changed my mind completely. It was so delicious; sweet with a tart finish, and just scrumptious.
The batch ended up making 14 jars, so that felt like a lovely bonus.
Next I tried mushing grapes and sugar together, which I will let ferment for a few weeks or months. Hopefully this will yield a simple wine.
We made some juice by crushing, heating and straining grapes. The yield was about one cup per one pound of grapes. We have several fermenting jars we hope will become grape vinegar. I would also like to try baking with grapes. I saw recipes for grapes in cornbread served with rosemary-infused whipped cream and for grape focaccia, and thought both sounded interesting.
Enjoying our little harvest so much, I hope to increase it yearly through pruning and other vine care. Now having tasted fresh, homemade grape jam I would be quite content designating it my primary household jam throughout the year.
ALDONA BIRD is a journalist, previously writing for The Dominion Post. She uses experience gained working on organic farms in Europe to help her explore possibilities of local productivity and sustainable living in Preston County. Email columns@dominionpost.com.
