With some help from my kids, I just harvested more than 30 pounds of grapes. And it got dark before we could finish, so this is the first half. If they were seedless, we would have made a significant dent in them, but unfortunately, they are heavily seeded (4-5 seeds per grape). I’ve actually tried to graft over them for the last 2 springs, but have failed dismally.
They were here when we moved in 5 years ago, so I’m not sure of the variety. They seem like Concord, except white. In the past, I never got more than a small bowl full, mostly due to black rot. When I protected a few bunches with bags, the animals would eat them. This time, I gave them a spritz of MFF when I was spraying the peaches. That was back around the end of June and it looks like it has made all the difference. In the past, each bunch would have 0-3 usable grapes. Now, there are 0-3 bad grapes per bunch instead. I’ve started to see losses to the birds and they (the grapes) are starting to have a nice smell, so I figure that the raccoon will be along soon.
Here is one bunch which looks a lot like past years (I think it was hiding from the spray and the sun). Believe it or not, this would have been one of the best bunches in past years.
The tentative plan is for me to boil them a bit and extract the juice. I’ve tried just crushing them and the result is interesting, but I think it needs to be mixed with something (sweeter). The brix is ~13.5, but it is still pretty tart. After boiling, maybe I’ll make jelly or just use the juice (maybe mixed with cider?). Anyone have a favorite?
