Nesting Time

Well the good news is I didn't miss out on the Concord Grape harvest at Marly's while I was gone to visit my parents. I seriously considered telling my sis that I couldn't go because I was worried they would ripen while we were gone. We got priorities here, and grape jam is right up there at the top when you have as many PB&J eaters in the house as we do.


When I got home I went out to the store and decided to stop by Marly's to check on the grapes, only to find that the gate was locked because she had furbaby visitors last week. I drove to the back and it was locked too. I noticed that the fence was only as high as my hip so figured I could jump over and take a peek. Yeah, well I couldn't jump a fence 25 years ago when I was young, so what the heck was I thinking. Plan B: I pulled a trash can over and gingerly stepped on it. But then,  as I was hoisting myself over, the lid went crashing in, my leg plunged into the can and I landed hard,  astraddling that chain link fence. oooouuchh! As I "sat" on the fence for a few moments contemplating whether this might be a permanent injury I decided there was nothing to do but get over it and carry on with my mission.

And I guess my timing couldn't have been more perfect! Eat our heart out Welch's, those Concord Grapes shall be mine!


Marly had a good laugh when I told her about my fence "hopping" adventure, and she left the gate open for me to come back with a couple helpers to harvest the fragrant little jewels.

Miss Morgy May took the job very seriously as she has a great interest in being sure that Grandpa has an adequate supply of jam to keep the two of them well fed on PB&J for the year. Both of my helpers helped themselves to many samples just to be sure these grapes were at their peak.

Little C-man discovered a cement mixing truck and determined that it was the perfect vehicle for delivering grapes into the collection bin.

Cooperation! They got the job done and were very proud of their work.

I think it was about 30+ lbs of grapes. Morgy was a big help with picking all of the grapes off the stems. What a trooper, she stuck it out for the whole tedious chore. I am sure that jam will taste extra special to her since she had such a big part in the making. I have them all cooked down and strained, about 3 gallons of juicy pulp in the refrig. I really prefer to can when there aren't children running about. Big pots of boiling water and sugar can be dangerous so I'd rather not take any chances. So I will be jammin' all day while the kids are in school. Can't wait to try it!