Grape Cuttings. 1.10.15

 Today I took some grape cuttings.

These are from 14-year-old grape vines at the old place.   They are too big to move to the new place.

I like the "Price" and "Interlaken"  varieties.  The others are OK, but I like these the best.  I want to grow them with TLC to either bearing size for next year, or close to it.

This starts with the cuttings.  In the past I have just stuck grape prunings into the soil in the garden, and they grew.   However, those are slow and take a few years to reach bearing size.  The first year, only a few inches of growth.

With some TLC, I may get a few feet of growth.

To start - cut prunings.  About 1 foot to 1i8 inches.   Stout strong first-year stems.  If possible, nodes a few inches apart, as many nodes as possible.

At least 2 nodes, better if 3 or 4.  Cut bottom end, flat, about 1 inch from node.  Cut top end, at angle, about 1 inch from top.

I used Dip-and-grow.  I don't know that it's necessary.  I've grown grape cuttings without it. Also, the container is old, maybe several years.  But I used some anyway.

Then LABELED, inserted into potting soil with lowest nodes about 3 or 4 or 5 inches down.   Leaving them outside on the deck, north of house so they don't get sun and overheat.

The late Lon Rombaugh was far, far more experienced than I am.  His method is more detailed, probably more successful and better.  My method is amateur but works for me.  The main difference is he puts more effort into callousing the root end, by warming them.  If I have a chance, I may do that in a couple of months, with fresh cuttings, as a back-up plan.

Preserving Summer. 8.16.15

Sundried Hollywood Plums.  8.16.15

Sundried and Sun-drying tomatoes.  8.16.15

 There is so much now from the kitchen garden.  Can't eat it all at once.  I give some away.

Dried fruit from home garden is surprisingly good.  The near-black Hollywood plums are tart and sweet and concentrated plum flavor.  Like fresh ones but more intense.  Nothing like a prune, which is a dried European plum.

The home grown sun dried tomatoes are even better than store bought,  And store bought sun dried tomatoes are pretty good.

They don't have to be Roma tomatoes.  Ning taught me we can dry any kind.

With these fruits, we dry a few days in the sunroom.  During the day it is in the 120s there.  I can use a food dehydrator, but the sunroom works as well with no power.

Then they go into food bags into the freezer.

Freezer Jam.  Finally found instant pectin.  The advantage is, instant pectin does not need to be dissolved.  No water needs to be added.  So the jam is just fruit, some sugar, and pectin.

Today's Harvest.  8.16.15

 For grapes, only 1/2 the recipe amount of sugar is needed.  Maybe not even that much.  This was amazingly good:

2 cups washed grapes.   These were Price grape.
1/3 cup sugar.
2 tablespoons instant pectin.

I wash the grapes. Place them in food processor and chop coarsely.

Then combine the sugar and pectin.  Add to food processor and process until well mixed.

Ingredients for Grape Freezer Jam.  8.16.15

 I leave the seeds intact, and don't worry about chopping the skin too finely.    Grape flavor is highly concentrated in the skin.  Grape seeds are a health food and the crunchiness adds fun to the jam, similar to seeds in figs.

Cornbread with Grape Freezer Jam.  8.16.5

Very good on cornbread with butter.  Use unsweetened corn bread.  Or mixed with plain, homemade yogurt.

Ladle jam into jars.   Any small jar will do.  These keep 1 year in freezer or 1 month in fridge.  The uncooked fruit flavor sings with joy.

Hollywood plums also make excellent plum jam.  Same as grapes, but slice the plums flesh off the seeds.   Leave the skin on the slices.  Use 2 cups, same as grape jam.  Add 1 tablespoon lemon juice.  The rest is same as grapes.  It's almost like candy, sweet and sour and full of undiluted flavor, unlike cooked fruit jams with high fructose corn syrup from the grocery store.

In either case, the jam fills 2 8-oz jars.

Grapes are ripe. 8.4.15

Table Grapes, Venus, Price, Interlaken.  8.4.15

These are Venus and Price (both blue), and Interlaken (green).  I don't know which I like better, Price or Interlaken.  Venus is not bad either.

This is a pretty good year for these.  Racoons have been getting into them every night, which wakes up the dogs, which wakes me up.  Not crazy about that.

Good eating.  The grapes at the Battleground place are not ready for bearing yet.