A few weeks ago, on the way to the farm, I stopped at a garden center here that had 75% off plants. I always like to go this time of year and see if I can get some good deals for something for next season. It's how we've gotten most of our fruiting plants and trees. We can get flowering plants as well but the best deals are always on the edible plants and trees.
We wanted some citrus and I found a lot but they were sneaky. They marked the price UP to $50 (!) and then didn't include them in the sale.
I was about to leave but found a section with some more plants and that's when I saw these:
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| Muscadine grapevines |
Muscadine grape vines!
Regular blog readers may remember that we had one a few years back that we were taking care of. It was on the porch but one season, when I was moving plants around, it got mixed up into an area with some weeds and dead plants that we were getting rid of and it was ignored and not watered and died. Oops.
We won't let that happen again. These were really nice vines in three gallon containers and the best part of all, they were only $5 each. I bought two, so $10 for both!
One is the COWART variety...
And the other is the CARLOS variety...
Both are on the recommended variety list for our county as doing best in our weather. They are pretty tough and can survive freezing weather (though last Winter's record freeze, not sure about that). Now we just need to find the right place to put them. For now, just as we did with the blueberries, we can keep them on the porch, water them and protect them if needed.
Muscadine grapes grow well in our climate and they can be used just like any other grape, jelly, preserves and even winemaking! We could definitely have some fun with nice harvests of grapes in our future.
You done Good.
ReplyDeleteYou have a great start on your fruit orchard. Next; Maybe a couple of Pomegranate, Cherry, some Blackberry along with Kiwi fruit trees
Pomegranate is definitely on the list. We have so many dewberries we shouldn't need blackberries, ha. Never thought about Kiwi. I'll have to research that. Thanks!
DeleteGreat buy! I paid $5 for about 12 huge muscadines just to taste them. It had been so long.
ReplyDeleteThey are wonderful. We haven't eaten many but they have such great "grape flavor" (even with the little seeds. We hope to have enough to enjoy regularly.
DeleteYou got a great deal! Will you use them for eating or making jelly or wine - or all three? I read that Muscadine grapes contain more of a potent antioxidant, Resveratrol, than other types of grapes, and some of the highest antioxidant levels among all fruits.
ReplyDeleteEating and jelly/jam for sure. Have never made wine but it could be a project to learn in our old age ha. I didn't know that about them but we do know resveratrol is a good thing. Good to know they have a lot of good things for health.
DeleteDo you know what you want to do with your grapes?
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Jelly/jam for sure. They can make good grape juice too. But probably grape jelly mostly. And snacking of course. We LOVE frozen grapes in the Summer.
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