The cool weather of fall brings the beautiful scent of ripe grapes. As a child, I remember going to the farmer’s market with my mother and getting the delicious seasonal treat of Concord grapes. I loved them. They were definitely a favorite of mine. When we had the opportunity to grow them, we planted 36 vines of which were mostly Concords and Niagaras. We also planted a handful of seedless varieties for dehydrating. In addition to fresh eating, I wanted enough juice for the year. At the time, we were purchasing grape juice for kefir soda regularly.
Grapes are a quick turn around plant to invest in. I say start with your fruit when you ”land” as it takes the most time to produce…but, not all fruit takes a long time. Grapes are pretty quick. And when you taste your first grapes…they will be well worth the investment!
We bought our plants from Double A Vineyards. Before the plants arrived we prepared. I designed the layout. We removed sod. We marked and dug holes. The holes were not sufficient for the massive roots on the plants we received. We had to dig the holes much deeper. I was very pleased with the plants.
Grapes can take a few years to produce which is a short wait when compared to fruit trees. Some vines can produce for well over a human beings lifetime. This makes planting grapes a very good investment. Planting them is simple. We did nothing to the soil. We dug holes and planted at the recommended spacing and provided them with something to climb on. We do not fertilize them nor do we use any sort of pesticide or herbicide on them. We prune them in early spring and sometimes a little in the summer if the vines get in the way of other plantings. Some of our vines are in a bed that has been sheet mulched. Some are not. We simply weed whack around those only for our ease of picking. Grapes are VERY hardy in general. We don’t water them with the exception of the year we planted them. Because the roots are so deep, once established, they do not need watering here in the north eastern United States. Depending on where you live, they may.
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Once you have established grapes, you can eat them! And eat them….and eat them. You can also get yourself a steam juicer and make yourself some juice. Steam juicing is incredibly simple. We use a large harvest basket to gather the grapes. We fill it once, then pluck grapes. I do not like the taste of the juice as much when leaving the stems on. I have some nice stainless steel bowls with lids that I pluck the grapes into. That way I can pop them in the fridge if I don’t have enough for a juicer load. Once done with that basket load, I start juicing.
So, how does one steam juice you ask? My steam juicer has three chambers. One for water (bottom). One for collecting juice (middle). One for your fruit or vegetables (top). To start you put water in the bottom of your steam juicer. Put the juice capturing chamber above that. Pour plucked grapes into the top of your juicer. Cover with lid and turn on the burner. Before long, your home will smell amazing! The best part is this…the juice comes out piping hot. I prepare my jars as usual for canning. I run a small amount of juice through the tube, and dump it back in the top to sterilize the tube. After that, I fill my jars to about 1/4 inch from the top, wipe, place lid & screw top, put on cooling rack. Done. No water bath necessary. If you were canning something non acidic, other methods would be needed. I have been doing this for several years and have had no problems. I love the ease of it. I have a Cook N Home 11 quart steam juicer. Do be sure to check the water in the bottom chamber every now and then. If it runs out the juicer can get damaged and the taste of your juice can be affected.
I place a stool next to the cooktop and place a dark colored towel down to catch any drips of juice that go where I don’t want them to go. It happens and it stains particularly well with concords. I then get a prepared jar one at a time as I fill them. I prefer regular mouth quart size (32oz) canning jars for juice. The regular mouth is easier to pour than the wide mouth. I sometimes do a few half gallon jars for gatherings. I place them on a cooling rack upside down to drain after washing so no dust, etc gets inside. I prefer Ball canning jars. They are made in the USA.
Steam juicing is a simple way to put up juice to enjoy all year! I have also used my steam juicer for apples. Apples are nice to use because when you are done juicing, you can run the pulp through a mill and have sauce. Double duty. I hope you are inspired to juice some fruit! Enjoy!