Grapes Galore

 The weather must have been perfect this year for grapes because I have a bumper crop of both the red seedless grapes and the concord grapes.  I got these plants about 5 years ago and up until this year have maybe had two bunches of grapes on these vines.  Well, this year I have thousands of bunches.

 I like grapes alright, but if I eat this many grapes all by myself, I may never leave the bathroom.  The grapes are just about ripe and ready to pick.  How do I know?  I have some friends who know these things.  The other morning I was out early and there was some rustling in the leaves at the bottom of the grapevines.  I wasn't sure what it was and all of a sudden a ground squirrel comes running out from under the vines across the tennis court.  Yep, he was having a breakfast of grapes.  They must be ready.  The birds are enjoying them too.

 These are the concord grapes and from above the vines you can't see a single grape, but when you lift the leaves, there must be 50 pounds of grapes underneath.  When I was a kid, we had several concord grape vines.  The taste brings back memories.  These have several large seeds in each grape, but you don't chew these grapes.  You just squish the grape in your mouth and let the innards squirt down your throat and then swallow the skin whole.  The skin is a bit sour.  It's a weird way to eat a grape I have to admit and of all of the fruits to plant and grow, it seems a weird choice, but since we had it as a child, it seemed a logical choice to pick and plant.  These make great grape jelly and I've offered them to any of my friends on Facebook who want the fun task of making jam or jelly this year.  I don't have any of the necessary tools for making preserves.  You need a really big pot and canning jars and it gets expensive to start out.

My kids did 4H when they were younger and made lots of things in their 4H canning group.  They had a lot of fun learning how to preserve food.  I'm hoping someone will want to take all of the grapes off my hands.  If not, my big, old dog will eat them.  She thought I had picked these for her and tried to eat them when I set the bowl down for a picture.  She doesn't know dogs aren't supposed to eat fruit.  She will pick the apples off the tree too.  I don't know why she hasn't picked the grapes off the vine yet.  Silly dog.