Grapes are Ripe!!

[Greenthumb18]

My grapes are all nice and ripe now. Hmmm... what should I do with them? I wanted to use them for wine making but not nearly enough or even to make grape jam from them. I'm just going to enjoy them the natural way right off the vine, I share some of my grapes with my quails and other birds. It wasn't a bad year for grapes, much better than last year. We had too much rain last season which isn't so good with grapes once they ripen.
I have a Reliance Grape Vine also that just started producing a few grapes this year. Its a pink grape variety and Boy were those grapes good, they melt in your mouth and they have a certain taste about them that's different. I was quite happy to pick this variety for the garden. Has anyone ever tried the Reliance Grapes? I have a picture of this variety, its in the first picture. You can see the pink grape bunch with the other purple-blue grapes.
I am actually trying to get white grapes now to harvest for the future. The funny thing is, that I ordered a white grape variety 2 years ago that turned out to be a red grape variety, I told the nursery I ordered from and their going to send me a replacement for the real white variety. I'm sure mix-ups do happen sometimes. I was glad their were able to help though.
I have a Niagara Vine too but too young still to produce maybe in a year or two. I've been working on getting a nice long row of grapes planted on my property down south, so far I have 6 grape vines. Next Spring I'm going to get a nice trellis built for them.
A lot of the grapes I have planted there were propagated from cuttings. Grapes are quite simple to get to root.
I had many grape plants started this way, it is fun to root cuttings.

Well, Enjoy the Pictures!!

 

[lesa]

Is there anything more beautiful than grapes on the vine?? I love them- they look wonderful. Every year I say I am going to plant grapes, and I don't! Maybe next year! Do they taste utterly fabulous?? I hope next year brings enough for at least a carboy of wine! Enjoy!

 

[catjac1975]

Beautiful-What an accomplishment! You could put them through a juicer and freeze them. Or you can cook them as for jelly and sweeten them for for grape syrup and freeze.

 

[thistlebloom]

Congratulations on those pretty grapes Mike! I've heard good things about Reliance. Like Lesa, planting some grapes is one of those "get a round tuit" items. But every year I don't is another year older I'll be when I finally do.

ETA: Is that s fig tree you have growing by your grapes?

 

[Greenthumb18]

Congratulations on those pretty grapes Mike! I've heard good things about Reliance. Like Lesa, planting some grapes is one of those "get a round tuit" items. But every year I don't is another year older I'll be when I finally do.

ETA: Is that s fig tree you have growing by your grapes?

Thanks Everyone for the replies!

Yes, grapes are those kind of grapes where the quality and harvest is highly dependent on the weather. But I think its worth it to try grapes. Yep, that is a Fig tree next to the grapes. It doesn't produce any figs since its in a shady spot.

 

[journey11]

They are very pretty! Hope you and the quail enjoy them.

 

[Greenthumb18]

They are very pretty! Hope you and the quail enjoy them.

Thanks journey! Oh the quails are addicted to those grapes, they sure eat them in a hurry! I had some today I find the grapes that stay on the vine longer will generally be sweeter and more flavorful. Got to enjoy them now before the season changes.

 

[digitS']

. . . I hope next year brings enough for at least a carboy of wine! Enjoy!

Yeah!

I was always trying to make wine from things other-than-grapes. What was I thinking!?? There is a reason grapes are the traditional wine/vine.

It started off by making use of what fruit was easily available. I made pear wine . . . not satisfied with making cider, I made apple wine. It went on and on! I am lucky to have stopped before I went on to pea vine or tomato wine! Yes, I'm not kidding.

None of this turned out very well for me. Always, there was much, much better wine to be purchased off the store shelves. About the best I could come up with was an almost accidental use of elderberries - that was okay - and rice with raisins. Notice the problem there with the other-than-grapes plan? Yeah, raisins are grapes and rice . . . well, rice will make beer.

I was much more successful at making beer. Still, the homebrew recipe that made the best beer - & it was better than or all but better than any store-bought - used a little raisins in it. How about that? While I spent years trying to make good wine without grapes and found that my best beer was made using them! And no, I never made grape wine .

Steve

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Oh those grapes look great! Just think, in a few years when all of your vines are producing you'll have lots for jelly, preserves, and wine.

Like several others, I have been wanting to get some grapes going here but I never get around to it. But this summer during the drought I plowed and tilled a 60 ft. trench along a fence line for my "someday" grapes. I also plowed and tilled a 60 ft. trench for my "someday" black berries. Some day.

 

[catjac1975]

Make blackberries your today crop. They are easy, carefree, if you don't want to spend much money, buy, one plant. (thornless) You can keep trimming it and rooting more plants. If you have trouble rooting bury the ends while attached, cut when rooted, and you will quickly get more plants.