Beating the Bandits!

  On our early morning walk, Mark and I came across a few Muscadines on the ground a fair distance from the arbor.  Uh, oh!  That could only mean one thing.  The coons had been raiding the Muscadine vines during the night!  We had better get a move on if we wanted our share of the grapes!  We hustled up the hillside to the arbor to find that the grapes were indeed ripe!  

  While we were picking both the deep purple Muscadines and the golden Scuppernongs, a thought occurred to me.  Since both grapes are actually Muscadines, why did I feel the need to differentiate between the two?  Why not just call them both Muscadines?  Well, that all goes back to the fact that, while both are indeed Muscadines, there is a difference.  All Scuppernongs are Muscadines but not all Muscadines are Scuppernongs!  Muscadines are a type of grape that is native to Southern United States. Muscadines are a fast growing grape that can be found growing wild in just about any woods, field or roadside in the Deep South. The grapes have long been coveted by folks making jelly and wine.  The flavor and color cannot be beat!  A Scuppernong is a cultivar of the native Muscadine.  It is a "bronze" grape and has been developed to be a good bit sweeter than the wild Muscadine.  Although both grapes have tough outer skins unlike the bunch grapes from the grocer, folks down here will go out of their way to pick at least a bucketful.  The flavor is just that good!

  On the downside, that flavor is also what calls the wildlife to raid the vines.  Birds, coons, squirrels, possums and any other critter that takes a liking to grapes, can be found gorging themselves at the arbor.  Mark and I picked what we could this morning and will be out bright and early again tomorrow.  If we want Muscadines and Scuppernongs, we have to beat the bandits that raid the arbor! The grapes will be made into jams and jellies to add to the shelves for our winter enjoyment.

Just Another Leaf

  Late this afternoon, I was out doing a bit of hiking while checking to see just what needed to be done to prepare for the possible hurricane.  I figure I had better get a jump on things even this early in the game.  With Son's knee still not in the best condition, he will have to do some of the indoor chores and let me handle the outdoors.  Life did get a whole lot easier today since Mark is back home from his job and will be here to handle the difficult stuff.  (What a huge blessing!)  I did do a few small things as I hiked such as bringing in the bottles from the bottletree and taking up the bird feeders.  The poor birds will just have to scavenge on the ground for their seeds for the next few days.  Tomorrow will see me in full swing.  The grass will be mowed, all of the lawn furniture stowed away, the greenhouse secured and any remaining fruit or vegetables will be picked.

  While down near the persimmon tree, I spied a mass of wild grapevines. Perhaps these had a few grapes leftover from the scavenging coons. Those rascals devoured the Muscadines and Scuppernongs before I could pick them.  The day after their raid, I managed to only get one quart of grapes from the entire arbor.  Perhaps a few Fox or Possum grapes remained on the wild vines and I could add those to my stash.  I eased down through the palmettos.  A careful watch was needed so I would not inadvertently step on a cottonmouth.  No grapes are worth that pain!  But, sad to say, the coons beat me to the wild grapes also.  

  As I turned to leave, I noticed someone hiding in amongst the grape leaves!  A sweet yellow butterfly was trying to find a safe place to spend the night.  Its bright yellow coloring would be sure to stand out against any dark foliage but the grape leaves were already yellowing with age. The butterfly's habit of danging from a twig with wings folded was the perfect camouflage.  It moved once as I stepped in closer to get a photograph but then settled back in for the night. I think it knew that I meant it no harm.  

  With the threat of a hurricane bearing down on us, preparations are a priority.  Since a sure storm path is never a reality, it is wise to fall back on that old saying of "better to be safe than sorry."  I will be busy for the next few days "just in case".  If the storm does decide to move away from this area, I will chalk my efforts up to "being ahead of the game with the week's work". While doing my chores, I am sure that I will run across many more critters seeking shelter or searching for food.  It always makes me wonder just how they survive during hurricanes.  Wish I could lend a helping hand.

****My, oh, my!  It is amazing how things can change in just a matter of hours!  We were watching what was said to be a 80% chance of a hurricane coming our way and that has now been change to a 0% chance!   Two hours after posting the above, I am here editing that everything is looking good! Yippee! 

Muscadines!

  Yesterday while Mark and I were out for our evening hike, we noticed that the Muscadine Grapes needed picking.  This is the first year of producing for these particular vines so it was cause for a bit of excitement!  The arbor, while not loaded, was showing some promise after several years growth.  Now came the problem of picking the black blobs of deliciousness.  When building the arbor, not a lot of thought was put into this stage of the game.  While we knew we wanted a "walkthrough" arbor, our intentions are not boding well now.  The grapes are just out of reach!  Mark thought the stepladder would be of some help but other than his standing on the first step, the thing proved useless.  I upturned a box and proceeded to use it as a step-stool.  Then there was the brilliance of putting some support wire on top of the arbor.  This, my friends, has proven to be a royal pain!  The six inch square openings do allow for the hands to reach up through the vines but then once filled with a cluster of grapes, the hand becomes a bit wedged.  The twisting and turning to get the fistful of grapes through the wire (and vines) causes about half of the grapes to fall to the ground.  After fighting this method of picking for a while, I gave up and decided on a different approach.  While Mark was still going for the old grab and turn method, I started picking up the grapes that he dropped on the ground.  Actually, I was filling my bowl a whole lot faster than when I was actually pulling the things from the vine!  It was sort of like picking up pecans or perhaps some odd Easter egg hunt where the eggs were grapes and, of course, it was fall not spring. (So I guess the Easter egg hunt thing was a poor analogy.)

  All in all, we managed to pick a gallon and a half of the things before darkness made the task difficult.  In the morning, the chore will continue until we glean the arbor of its grapes.  Wild Muscadines can be easily cultivated and grown in the garden.  They will cover most any arbor which provides nesting places for birds which, in turn, help with garden pests.  The vines grow quickly and will usually produce within the second year.  Ours met several obstacles during those first two years and did not produce well until this, their third year.  These grapes are not of the seedless variety so one must take care to "spit" the seeds.  I plan on making some fine grape jelly to go with early morning biscuits!  There is just nothing better!

Muscadines!

It is August and that means it is Muscadine season here on the Bayou! Muscadines are a beautiful dark purple (almost black) grape that grows wild just about anywhere it can grab hold. It grows huge vines that will travel all the way to the tops of the pine trees if necessary to have a clinging spot. These grapes are usually used in making wine, jam and jelly as the skins are relatively tough and hard to chew. I have been eying the Muscadine vine growing along side of the lane for the past month, hoping that the birds, squirrels and 'possums would not beat me to the ripe fruit. Yesterday evening, I toted a batch of fresh-baked biscuits and a jar of peach jam to my brother who lives at the end of the lane. When I reached the vine, I noticed the ground beneath was littered with mushy grapes. Ahh..time to pick! This is easier said than done. This Muscadine vine was gigantic! It had just about covered an entire oak tree and many smaller pines that were about thirty feet from the oak. I pondered the problem..how could I get my grapes?..those beautiful, black jewels that were way out of reach. No easy solution came to mind..there had to be a way, but I was blind to the answer. Late into the evening, the problem stayed on my mind..I had to get some of those grapes! I would "sleep on it" and perhaps an idea would pop into the brain overnight. This morning early, I tended to chores about the house trying not to think about those luscious lovelies that evaded me. The laundry was washed and hung on the line to dry, the sourdough starters were fed and breakfast dishes were washed. Then about midmorning, I received a phone call. My dear sweet brother had once again come to my rescue. "Look on your front steps..I left a bucket of grapes for you."..the sweetest words rang through the telephone! Before I had even ended the conversation, I opened the door and snatched my prize! Grapes! Muscadines! Future jelly! My brother will be rewarded for his trouble. He will find a dozen jars of glorious grape jelly on his front porch tomorrow!

This afternoon (after the jelly-making) I took the time to pulverize some more of the dehydrated orange slices from this past winter. I had plenty of the lemon peel and the grapefruit peel on hand but my stash of orange peel was beginning to run a bit low. This is something that I tend to use quite often in everything from my morning oatmeal to chicken or fish dishes at supper..and yes..it is supper here, not dinner. I normally just use the peel but this time I used the whole orange slice. I threw them in the blender to make this process a bit easier and now have a nice, fat jar full again! Since last winter's hard freeze, my orange trees have not produced which seems strange since my lemons, limes, kumquats and grapefruits are loaded with fruit. The orange

trees are actually Satsuma trees or Tangerine trees as they are the easy-peel type of fruit. Every year, I can a lot of the slices of both the grapefruit and oranges, make marmalades and dehydrate slices and the peels. I have never run out before..I guess I am just eating too much!