Picked the last of my Hall dines, filling a 5qt bowl to overflowing. Total weight a little over 8 pounds, which makes about 15 pounds on a 3 year old vine. It had been in a pot for a year after arriving from Isons, so I guess technically it is a 4 year old vine, but 3 years in the ground and training.
That’s my first Lehman’s Delight persimmon on top that had some splitting on the sides which is probably why it is ripening earlier.
These are delicious and I haven’t had to worry about any sprays, etc. There are a lot of lantern flies sitting along the vine after arriving in our area this year, but I don’t see any obvious damage from them yet.
So, who has the best muscadine jelly recipe? This is certainly more than we’ll consume with fresh eating and sharing with some friends.
Muscadines tend to have low pectin which means you have to add some. Process the juice properly then follow a grape jelly recipe.
How to process the juice? There are two methods. Wash them thoroughly first.
Squeeze the muscadines until the pulp pops out of the skin, then separate the skins and juice into a pan. Cook for about 15 minutes at a low boil, use a compression strainer (or mash them through by hand) to get most of the juice and leave the skin. Use the juice to make jelly. Caution that this juice will be low pectin and could use about 50% more than most jelly recipes require.
Cook the entire muscadine for about 15 minutes, then run them through a juicer discarding the skins and seed. Use the resulting juice to make jelly. This will have more pectin than method 1 and can be made with a standard grape jelly recipe.
But! I’m a malcontent not really happy with muscadine jelly. I usually make mine with about half as much pectin as the recipe which results in a thick muscadine flavored syrup. It is scrumptious on waffles and pancakes. I also love it on a hot biscuit.
My razzmatazz only started trying to hold fruit again around the same time.
I’m wondering if it’s because we gradually go from cold to warm where as the lower states go from cold to hot and stays hot throughout the season for the most part.
This will be my second year with Razzmatazz trying to hold grapes this dang late in the year.
My muscadines didn’t wake up until late though.
My Oh My died with the weather we had earlier this year but it got down to 15 degrees or so where I’m at. My fry’s Seedless didn’t die but i thought it was dead for the longest it only woke up in the middle of summer right before i was gonna toss it. Seems muscadines in our area need protection when young. I’m going to grow all of mine in containers until they get big enough… I just ordered ruby crisp and pineapple from isons today because I’m stubborn and determined to succeed.
Speaking of Razzmatazz… I saw this video recently… and @krismoriah spoke about them favorably recently… I think he said something like they were popular at farmers markets near him.
The lady in the vid above is growing them in hanging baskets/containers… and brings them in over winter. She is in zone 6… a little out of their range.
They are evidently quite tasty, smallish red grapes, seedless… have a bold flavor similar to muscadines… somewhat everbearing.
Has anyone here in the south east (I am in southern middle TN zone 7b)… tried growing Raz ?
If so… whats the good, the bad, the ugly with razzmatazz ?
I"ve noticed we have some more 6B/7A zone pushers. visiting the thread this year. I just want to recommend the Darlene variety. I have had Darlene in a 7 gallon fabric root trapper pot for 3 winters now (just as an experiment). I just let it spread out across the ground. It has survived completely unprotected in this container through 0 degree temps. I’m north of Baltimore in 7A. We regularly spend time in the teens and have had multiple extended sub 10 degree spells each of the last few winters. Doesn’t have a reputation as a big producer but is evidently exceptionally hardy.
Paulk continues to be incredibly vigorous and productive in year 3 despite being left fairly neglected except for late April pruning. I’m beginning to get ripened dines from it now. The bulk will fully ripen first week of October. This vine is a beast. It continues to attempt to murder my Hosui pear tree that lives a few feet away.
Lane and Black Beauty were both winter kills here. I made a mistake with Black Beauty and pruned it to early. Lane survived 4 years but just died after cold temps without any help from me.
I purchased Oh My in March and have been letting it grow in a 7 gallon root trapper pot. It is doing exceedingly well so far. My plan is to overwinter it in the pot so I can move it into my garage during the coldest lart of the winter. I’ll put it in the ground in the Spring.
My favorite way to consume muscadines has become cold press juicing them for cider. Unfortunately I find that pressing them with the seeds intact adds a touch of unpleasant burning sensation to the cider that is hard to remove with filtering. I’ve been going through the painstaking process of removing (most) the seeds and just juicing small batches. The quality of the cider is improved dramatically imo. I’ll probably transition to all seedless varieties in the future.
There is also a muscadine winery in North Carolina named Duplin. Their wines are available at some larger liquor retailers here in Maryland. I think muscadines make the perfect sweet wine.
The good is that they are obviously good enough to be sold in grocery stores. If they are less productive… how can my local farms sell them at the farmers markets and larger farms in NC sell them to grocery stores?
Yes i’ve seen that. That’s why i’ve decided to give it at least a year in the root maker pot to develop and hide from sub 20 degree temps. I may extend that to 2 years based on things i’ve read. In that case i’ll transfer it to a 15 gallon root maker.
Oh Yes. Not that I need anymore muscadines but the OH Yes looks interesting. I think it would be a good partner to my Oh My bronze. If you’re willing to purchase a smaller plant the price is lower. It even showed up on Home Depot. If you are a veteran as I am they even offered a 10% discount and free shipping. It’s still expensive but $62.98 will work for me. One plant in and one plant needs to be removed.
it only woke up in the middle of summer right before i was gonna toss it. Seems muscadines in our area need protection when young. I’m going to grow all of mine in containers until they get big enough… I just ordered ruby crisp and pineapple from isons today because I’m stubborn and determined to succeed.
