Sunday, August 27, 2006

Tame Grapes, Wild Grapes, NonGrapes



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The vine above is a young Scuppernong grape vine that is just hitting it's stride this year. I believe I planted it about 3 years ago and this is the first year that it produced alot of sweet, aromatic fruits. I'm sorry if you live too far north to experience this fruit, because I can not do the flavor or aroma justice with words.
Scuppernongs are a type of muscadine grape and they have big ol' seeds and a thick skin, but ohhh man ... they are so good.



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I mentioned in a post last week that the wild muscadines are laden with fruit. A summer without rain (that changed this week!) has not seemed to bother them. They are delicious, I walk around eating them as I go about my yard duties.





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The photo above and the one below are Pepper Vine (Ampelopsis arborea). These are not grapes, but they sure resemble the wild muscadines. The other critters eat them, but as far as I know, they're not on the human menu.



"Do you think he saw us?"

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11 comments:

Anonymous said...

Don't suppose you could mail some of those this way? Please? Pretty please? With some lovely wild grapes on top?

Oh, and do they make good jelly?

R.Powers said...

Mrs. S,
They make spectacular jelly and wine.
No wine for you for a few more months tho.
:)

Anonymous said...

The muscadines here are just beginning to turn. I found one last Friday that I was sure was ripe...wrong! I chewed it up and swallowed it anyway, skin, seeds, and all. It wasn't too terrible - just not the sweet I was hoping for :)
I eat the seeds now because my son, the one who works at the ag research station told me to. He swears that's where all the good stuff is...good stuff it may well be, but tasty it's not.

R.Powers said...

Swampy,
Do you actually chew the seeds? I swallow them, but the chewed seed flavor is not very appealing.

swamp4me said...

Yes, I chew them. Hippie (Son #1), the botanical one, says to chew them to get the full health benefits from them. Being the tough little cuss that I am, I chew as instructed :) So does Treebeard.
Flamebrain (Son #2), the zoological one, says the seeds taste like...well, something zoological, and refuses to chew them.

R.Powers said...

Swampy,
Not picking favorites, but I have to go with Flamebrain on this one.

Juli said...

Hey FC.... I'm wondering about your fall garden. Will you be planting? If so, when and what?

Thunder said...

I'm waiting for musadine wine recipe!

R.Powers said...

Juli,
After I reconquer the vast weeds that now cover it, I will probably do green onions, collards, lettuce, carrots, and maybe some turnip greens...oh, and snow peas later when it's actually cool.
Good intentions.

ThunderD,
You would you lush!
Actually, my Papa used to make a good one.

Cooking in Florida said...

I'm a chef planning on doing a taste of Florida prefix menu. Can anyone tell me where to get them in Central Florida? I'm also looking for sea grapes. Thanks.

Mlewis said...
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