What are these?
Purple marbles?
Cat toys?
Purple marbles?
Cat toys?
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| Muscadine grapes |
They are four muscadine grapes that came from our grapevines.
Wait, grapevines? I don't remember you having grapevines planted?
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| Muscadine grapevines |
We don't...here they are above!
They are currently being cared for on the "porch greenhouse", ha! These are four muscadine grapevines that we have been babying since we sold the house last year, keeping them on the porch so they are out of direct sun but of course watering regularly. I guess the care was good enough that they actually started producing a few grapes. We ate these four and wow, they had such a great grape flavor.
It was too wet last Spring to plant them (eight straight weekends of monsoon rains). According to what I've read, because of our weather, the best time to plant them is late Fall or early Winter. To be honest, I forgot about finding a spot for them. I'm thinking of changing up the plan for orchard area and creating a space for a long trellis.
Anyone grow muscadines or grapes of any kind?
Anyone grow muscadines or grapes of any kind?
I don't grow grapes but you wouldn't want to plant these along fence line with cows on the other side of the fence. My suggestion would for you to put up your own trellis or whatever for them to grow up on.
ReplyDeleteMany different options on making a grape trellis.
https://www.google.com/search?q=trellis+for+growing+grape+vines&sa=X&biw=1536&bih=787&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&ved=0ahUKEwjRiP_KmJfQAhWm0YMKHW1JDx8QsAQI5wE
http://homeguides.sfgate.com/ideas-construct-grape-trellis-50006.html
The How-To's http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Grape-Vines
Muscat of Alexandria here - a lovely dessert grape - in our greenhouse. The roots are planted outside and the vine itself is inside. Yours sound delicious.
ReplyDeletexx
Look up spraying grapes in early spring with a copper sulfate or fungicide. Bottoms rot and ruin the crop if you don't. We have wild grapes where I live. They are about the size of peas and very grape flavor though not an eating grape. Jelly or jam only. Maybe a liqueur. That sounds good.
ReplyDeleteI have a 100-year-old grape vine here, Scuppernong. It has never been sprayed and has not rotted at all. It is on a 9'x18' arbor. When the neighbor's tree started shading it, the grape production dropped off a bit. Grapes like sun. Think of grapes growing in long rows in the sun.
ReplyDeleteI also have a smaller arbor of "old fashioned grapes." I showed them to old-timers when we moved here and that is the only name I ever got!
Don't you just love those surprises?
pparsimony
Our cats WOULD have treated them as a cat toy. As they do cherries. And rather a lot of other things.
ReplyDeleteGreat looking grapes you have there! Are you going to add wine-making to your skills?
ReplyDeleteAs for trellis or arbors, have you ever visited the Antique Rose Emporium outside Brenham? They have several great styles of arbors for their roses, which would also be great for your grapes. You can google the ARE for some pictures.
Do you have any wild mustang grapes growing on your property? They make great jelly and wine also.
Hope you get them in the ground soon, then they will be settled, established and ready to put on some serious growth next spring.
ReplyDeleteAn arbor sounds fantastic, so pretty to look at from the porch, all cool and shady underneath for the very hot days to picnic outside or just sit under with a vino and some nibbles. ....bliss
Remember to have the open ends where the breeze will waft through, ahhhh G&T here I come!
You can also harvest the leaves for wrapping rice stuff, not sure what it is called. Copper sulfate is a wood preservative, not sure it would be safe.
ReplyDeleteWhen you make pickles adding a grape leaf to each jar makes them crispier. You can also preserve the young leaves in a brine and stuff them ( actually a roll) We have muscadines on the edge of the yard they grow through the young redwood trees planted in a power company easement. I usually only get enough for a couple of small pjars of jelly, since they are on the squirrel highway
ReplyDeleteI grew up with a grape vineyard. We had the wild ones too. It is a fickle crop but one well worth the trouble.
ReplyDeleteWe have old fashioned Concord grapes and some very tiny wild grapes growing up on the hill. Over the years we tried Canadace Niagra and several other types but none of them lived more than five or six years. THE concord have been here over seventy years. On the trellis we would suggest metal posts set in concrete with hurricane type fencing fittings. A wooden trellis is much prettier but wood does rot (even treated) and trying to put a new trellis under a large vine is an awful job.
ReplyDelete