Concord Grapes...

Facebook Marketplace again for the win! I made grape jam when we first moved into the farmhouse, but my two sources dried up and I've been unable to find more (locally) ever since. I've been searching online for Concord grapes, but all I could find were at least an hour away...until Thursday night. It turns out there was a prolific grape arbor in the backyard of a family within twenty minutes of the farmhouse!

I asked for fifteen pounds, which was waiting for us when we arrived. Handsome and I had a conversation with a lovely young woman who said she had much more than she would ever use for the grape juice she cans. She also said she'd hang onto my name for future years.

These grapes are beautiful, tasty, and will be the basis of multiple jars of grape goodness that I'll can up this weekend. If you've never had fresh grape jam, you don't know what you're missing. It in no way resembles the factory-produced jam you find on the grocery shelves. This is fresh, and the grape flavor almost punches you in the face! (The whole house smells like a Welch's factory, too!) Handsome loves jams and jellies, and he's been talking about me making jam ever since we got them home. I'll share photos of the finished jars on Monday.

Gosh, I love my (our) life here in the farmhouse. Here's wishing all of you a wonderful, restful weekend.

Resilience...

"Resilience" by Autumn Skye ©2017

I saw this image on Facebook a week ago and, based on the watermark, managed to find the artist's website. Autumn Skye creates beautiful images, and this one is my favorite. It really speaks to me. Were it not for bees, my garden efforts (and much more) would be for naught.

Whenever I visit my kitchen garden, it is abuzz with honey bees, bumble bees and other pollinators. They allow me to work among them, too. If I don't bother them, they don't bother me...and I always leave blossoms for them to feast on, too. I know they need the nectar for the hives up the hill, or to nourish themselves for the winter ahead. I'm more than happy to share.

"Jasmine Bees" - ©2018 DLiljegren-Brynwood Needleworks

 

I had a lovely day yesterday with Daughter-in-Law #2. We went shopping in Cedarburg (WI), shared a delightful lunch at an old stone farmhouse restaurant called "The Farmstead", and even made it to a local farm market (Witte's) so I could bring home fresh produce for dinner.

 

Before I turned for home, I stopped at the home of one of her and our son's friends. They have concord grapes growing on an arbor in their back yard, which they offered to me for the picking. I'll be sharing grape jam with them when I make it today.

 

When I arrived at their house, I was greeted by a huge jasmine bush (comparable in size to those we had in Florida), and the fragrance was intoxicating. I knew I'd be taking a picture to show you. When I got closer, I saw that it, too, was humming with bees. It was a veritable feast for them, and they weren't wasting the opportunity! (I managed to capture two of them in this shot.)

 

After taking a few pictures, I walked to the back of their yard, where they told me I'd find all the grapes I cared to pick. I was also warned about the mosquitoes, which are legion in Wisconsin this year. No kidding, I had to battle them to harvest about three gallons of grapes! I pulled my jacket up over my head and closed it across my face to keep them from swarming my ears and face. Even so, I left looking like I'd played goalie in a dart game! My face was pocked with "sting and go" mosquito marks. Thankfully, they weren't full-blown bites, and by the time I got home, the redness had disappeared.

Handsome and I will be making Grape Jam and the last batch of Zucchini & Pepper Relish for this year, plus canning pears over the weekend. All that will be left is applesauce. First things first. I can almost smell the grape goodness rising in the kitchen.

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!