I’m growing grapes and it’s working this time. This year won’t be so bad, I only have two vines producing for the first time. But I decided I could expand the grapes and hopefully get some shade one the south side of my house. In the future I’ll have 6 vines producing.
I like grape jelly but jelly and jam recipes give so much that one batch of apple jelly is enough to last me until it goes bad.
I don’t like grape wine (plus they’re table grapes not wine grapes) but I’m hoping wine made out of table grapes tastes better than wine grapes because I do like a lot of fruit wines. If I like table grape wine problem solved. Juice can use up a lot fruit.
There’s grape juice and it should only be about 6 gallons so it shouldn’t totally cramp my cider storage although trying to drink 6 gallons of grape juice before October when cider really kicks into gear may give me cramps. Plus it would cut into my beer and coffee intake.
Are there any recipes I’m missing besides fresh eating and what I’ve mentioned?
I like the grapes in fruit cocktail but I don’t recall canned grapes in any of my canning books.
I’ve heard of frozen grapes but have no idea what they are or what to do with them.
I have 6 concord grape vines and 6 white grape vines.
But I have an army to feed tho so the juice and jelly are used all year long and usually i run out by the time harvest comes around again.
We eat alot of table grapes during harvest as well. Either just grabbing some and eating them…put them in the lunch boxes, fruit coctail.
Harvest time around here is both busy and a treat. And not just for grapes either. I just busted my 6yo down at the cherry tree eating my cherries a week ago.
But you mentioned you dont have a recipie for canning grapes? I can my grapes. But normally the only thing i do with them at that point is fruit coctail during the winter along with peaches, pears, cherries, and any other fruit i can find that ive canned down in the cellar.
You can also dry them and make rasins, i do that too for all year consumption by just eating or use in baking.
If you need a recipie for canning grapes, let me know.
now…if you could tell me what else i could do with Rhubarb other than jelly and pie?
Melissa - stew the rhubarb down to a puree and add it to muffins, coffee cakes, ice cream (or sweeten it and use it over ice cream); it makes a great tirimisu filling; you can do rhubarb upside down cake…(we used to have an annual rhubarb dessert contest)
MIke - if your grapes are seedless - wash and destem; put on a single layer on a cookie sheet and freeze, bag when frozen solid. Nice snacky type item - still frozen.
grape juice, slightly sweetened and then thickened slightly can be used to make fruit dumplings (you cook the dumplings in the thickened juice which then becomes the sauce)
I have to be very hungry to eat raisins. I guess I could use them to cook with and I may get used to snacking on them. That is a good way to use them that I forgot about and I think all the ones I got are rated for raisins.
If canning grapes exists I have to have a recipe somewhere, I’ll look around before begging for yours, I’d probably eat them as canned grapes, that would save me from having to pick them out of the cocktail to eat first
So the frozen grapes are eaten frozen? I’d probably like that.
The leathers would probably also be good. Although I hate dried apple anything so I’ll have to try it and see, I don’t hate raisins for their flavor so I’m guessing I’d like it.
I bet they would go good in a BBQ sauce. Maybe instead of freezing gallon jugs I should make ice cubes or popsicles. Then if I ever come up with a BBQ sauce recipe I can can it and take care of apples, grapes and tomatoes all at once.
I wish they’d keep like apples. I’d probably get the right amount to eat fresh until apples take over my cold space.
So, your grapes are showing, correct? Guess that means I am not going to have any this year. I think the 2-3 frosty nights we had in May killed mine off. The vines are growing and have plenty of leaves, but no “flowers” or clusters.
All I ever used mine for was making jelly, but the jelly has been one of my Christmas gifts to family members for the last 5 or 6 years. I just hope my crabapple tree produces like it seems like it’s going to (if there are no storms to strip the fruit, etc.) so I can at least have crabapple jelly to fall back on. We had lots of strawberries, and still have some frozen from last year, so I may be doing strawberry jam instead of the grape jelly this year. Darn weather!!!
Recipe Zaar had a recipe that triggered a memory. My grandmother’s pineapple ‘salad’ (an excuse to eat cream cheese). I bet some white grapes would go good in that. Although that’s something for fresh rather than stored.
miccisue, My grapes are just starting to size up and look like grape clusters. I’m in zone 5 IL (if I remember correctly you are too).
The blooms opened May 26th but were showing all spring.
I only have a handfull of clusters of Himrod but I had to thin the Reliance down to 40.
5 posts set 5 more to go on my monstrosity trellis. I hope I don’t have to destroy the 2 fruiting vines’ canes to convert them from 2 tier kniffen @ 5’ to a 6’ T, which I’m guessing will be more like a Y.
Yeah, I’m in the same zone in IL as you. I don’t have any clusters at all on my vines. I keep looking at the “joints” between the main stem and the leaf shoots to see if any flowering buds look like they’re starting, but all that are showing up are more leaf shoots.
Can’t figure out why yours are OK and mine got frostbit…unless your temps stayed just warm enough that it didn’t get them. This is the first year they haven’t produced, and I just know it was those two below 35 degree nights that did it. I did see a couple after that that were obviously killed, but I thought maybe some would still develop. Since I don’t see any yet, I’m afraid I’m not going to.
We only had one very minor frost, two leaves got burned and I had plenty of leaf cover to protect the flowers. Mine are also in a place that doesn’t let them wake up until late.
The new ones may or may not react like that, they’ll have the reflection off the house warming them so they may wake up early and get frosted all the time.
I’m kind of amazed yours didn’t send out a back up plan, I’ve heard of grapes doing that.
I went through my Blue Book and there’s a canned grape recipe. Also canned juice. 6 gallons in quarts will be a lot of quarts but that would be the whole potential harvest.
