Farmhouse Grape Jam...

Grapes. Cleaned And Awaiting Processing

The rain held off this morning, so Handsome and I drove over to a local farm that was offering Concord grapes. Together we picked twenty pounds of the ripe fruit, cleaning out the rest of their stock in this variety.

Grapes - Fresh Off The Vines

We had two garbage bag-lined, large, shopping bags with us, and Handsome and I filled them up as we talked about grapes...and dodged silly kittens playing in the arbor. They were really sweet (grapes and kittens,)

Ready For Processing

My recipe calls for four pounds of grapes (prior to cleaning). We have twenty pounds, so I just started cleaning until the bowl was full. I set the scale to compensate for the weight of the bowl I was using (a big Tupperware one - not the big pottery one!) and ended up with enough for a double batch.

Our "Now Vintage" Scale

That means I still have about twelve pounds of grapes to clean and process. I'm going to definitely take a day off to sew before I tackle those. Oh, and we stopped at the orchard and picked up a bushel (53 pounds) of McIntosh apples for more applesauce, too. I'll do those this weekend.

Finished The First Batch Of Jam

 

Eight pounds of Concord grapes equals three pints and eight half pints of yummy jam. Won't that be tasty this winter? I think I may plant a few vines next spring so we can grow our own right here on the farm. Can you believe I'm already planning what's going to go into our garden next year!

Today will be a sewing day, and there will be more canning on Friday and Saturday. I'm having labels made for our canned goods, too! I'll share those as soon as they arrive. I have lots to do before then.

See you tomorrow!