Grape harvest
By Fleur
@Fleura (30539)
United Kingdom
November 19, 2015 4:51pm CST
Outside our house we have two large grape vines, one with black grapes and one with green. They both grow like crazy and throughout the summer I have to prune constantly to be able to get out of the back door. Now they are loaded with grapes. Unfortunately the grapes are quite small (I think I should be thinning the grapes within the bunches if we actually wanted to eat them but I just haven’t been able to do it so far) and have seeds so not much good for eating. The best use we found for them so far is making grape juice.
In the past some people in the village lent me a fruit press which I used, but since I have hardly seen them this year I don’t really like to knock on their door to ask, it seems as if I only want to know them for what I can borrow! So instead we decided to go back to traditional methods. Persuaded Big One to wash her feet and trample around in a tub of grapes. As is often the case, the old-fashioned method proved to be very simple, easy and effective.
All rights reserved. © Text and image copyright Fleur 2015.
13 people like this
9 responses
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
20 Nov 15
It makes me think of the I Love Lucy episode when she was in Italy and stomped grapes. There were green grapes that grew on an arbor at a house I once lived in, but they were just terrible and I think only the birds could stand to eat them. I never thought of juicing them or any other use.
4 people like this
@TypicalRussian (747)
• Budennovsk, Russian Federation
21 Nov 15
You can also make vine
, that would have great taste perhaps.
, that would have great taste perhaps.3 people like this
@Phoenixmaid (129)
• United Kingdom
19 Nov 15
enjoy your Juice. I don't think my girls would be willing to jump in and start squishing.
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137487)
• United States
12 Jan 16
Hmmm.... Fleur? I think I would have tied plastic bags over Big One's feet, too... LOL! I bet she wasn't happy with the grape "bodies" on and between her toes, was she?
So, how did the juice turn out? As good as with the grape press?
How long are your vines and how much juice did you get out of them? (You don't have to say, of course, I'm just curious.) Thank you.
So, how did the juice turn out? As good as with the grape press?
How long are your vines and how much juice did you get out of them? (You don't have to say, of course, I'm just curious.) Thank you.1 person likes this
@Fleura (30539)
• United Kingdom
12 Jan 16
She's usually very obliging, she only complained about how cold the grapes were! And yes we all drank the juice afterwards.
I can't really say how long the vines are as they grow every which way, I don't know how the commercial vineyards keep their vines in those tidy rows as we can hardly get out of our door in summer! The vines easily produce about 3 laundry-baskets of fruit each but we couldn't possibly use that many so we just used what we could, the rest have been fed to the chickens or the birds.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137487)
• United States
12 Jan 16
@Fleura Hmmm... you couldn't make them all into juice? Or nowhere to store it?
I don't know how the vineyards keep their vines in such nice neat rows, either. My dad grew three lines of grapes (They were so dark a blue the glistened black when ripe.) about twenty feet each and they were in tidy rows, too, but he didn't like us out in the grapes, so I never saw what he did to keep them neat and tidy.
There were so many of us kids that we always ate all the grapes when dad harvested them. None went to the chickens.
That was very interesting. Thank you!
1 person likes this
