The Grape Harvest

Alex grows grapes. He has seven vines that he purchased from Fedco. Since we only have .11 acres, he grows them on a sunny ledge on the fence that borders our neighbor's property. It's always scary to see Alex prune the vines in spring, all that new green growth gone in a snip, but the results are so worth it. Alex harvested 12.5 pounds this weekend, and there are some grapes left to harvest after they do a bit more ripening. The varieties of grapes were selected by Alex for cold hardiness and Maine's climate: Kay Gray, Reliance Seedless, Frontenac, Canadice and King Of The North. Before you ask, no he is not going to make wine. We have a good harvest for such a small space, but one needs so much grapes to make wine--well, he says he may have enough to make a gallon of wine, which takes a year to condition and only adults would be able to drink it, so eh, no, no wine. He will make grape jelly. All of us eat and love grape jelly. Especially since we scraped our last jar clean in March, you could say we're looking forward to some of Alex's grape jelly--on toast, on peanut butter, on biscuits on corn bread...mmmm. Plus the house smells so grapey-good when he's busy canning. And I just couldn't resist snapping these photos and then sharing them here--all that grapey blue and purple goodness is to divine to keep to myself.