Saturday, August 28

On the grapevine - or is it off the grapevine?

We picked our first bunch of grapes of the season yesterday. I've kept tasting the odd grape but each time they weren't quite ripe until yesterday. For quite a few years now, the vine - Himrod - has produced masses of small, sweet, seedless grapes. There was a point when it took over completely and meant we could hardly grow anything else in our 10' x 20' greenhouse. Now it is severely pruned each year but it is still managing to head out of a window and up into the branches of the pear tree planted next to the greenhouse.

12 comments:

  1. I really enjoy looking at the grapes, so heavy and beautiful. It wont grow here, unless we are prepared to make a special home for the plant to grow.... ~bangchik

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  2. Hi Bangchik
    We have some outdoor ones too planted this year but so far only a couple of bunches of tiny grapes.
    It's always interesting to see what grows in other climates - you grow lots of things that we can't too

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  3. That looks an impressive vine. It's nice that it's doing so well for you.

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  4. It's a regular supply of grapes Jo - has been for a lot of years now so proves it's worth the space in the greenhouse.

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  5. Our grapes are also slowly ripening. Unfortunately, they are not as tasty as I would like them to be. We usually give them to our neighbors and they make wine with it.
    We tried to grow some more tasty grapes, but so far no success. Perhaps I should try growing it in the greenhouse, like you.

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  6. Are the grapes that you grow eating grapes as the varieties are grouped according to whether they are for this or wine making? Do you know what variety you have?

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  7. We have 3 varieties and they are all for wine making. 2 of them are white and one is red. I know the name for just one of them - it's Isabella.

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  8. that is a fantastic grapevine....I have had no fruit on mine with it being their first year and i am going to move them outside for next season so fingers crossed they still do well!!

    What are you going to do with your grapes??

    three of my vines are wine making grapes...will I still be able to eat them???

    Have to admit to not being a huge wine lover...at the time of buying I didn't think it would matter but reading previous comment now I wonder :-{

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  9. Nice. You have fresh grapes and pears to eat whenever you want now. We don't have a fruit tree although we would love to. But with limited space and renting we have to put it in our daydream lit at the moment.

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  10. Hi Tanya
    Generally grapes are classed as table or wine making according to their characteristics. Generally wine grapes are smaller and have more seeds. They tend to have thicker skins and are more acidic.
    I suppose it can be a matter of taste - the best thing to do is just try the grapes and see whether you like them or not?

    You could make grape juice rather than wine.

    We eat our grapes fresh - we tried wine making once and the bung blew off in the middle of the night, it was quite a noisy explosion and we ended up with grapes pulp all over the ceiling!

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  11. Welcome MK Girl - fresh fruit is certainly worth growing and once it's established very little effort is needed to keep it growing

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  12. my kids are huge fans of grape juice so if they are nasty to the taste I think this is the way i will go....thanks.

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