A neighbor told us about a farm about 20 minutes away that let you pick muscadine grapes (purple and green or bronze ones) and sold them for $1 a pound. The kids and I went this year to pick some. We braved the many ant hills (they seem to have multiplied since Tropical Storm Fay) and bumble bees and various other bugs, plus long itchy grass to pick 3 pounds. I thought we maybe had a pound from the looks of what was in the bucket, but these grapes are pretty heavy, so they weigh more than your grocery store variety. I also saw some local grown honey and so bought a jar. I thought we might just eat the grapes, but they are full of seeds and the kids didn't especially like them. So we decided to make jelly.
Jonathan helped me mash the grapes in a big bowl with a potatoe masher. Then we boiled on the stove.
Elizabeth helped measure the sugar.
Then she tasted the Sure-Jel and decided she liked it even though it was a little sour (she walked around eating a lemon today, so she can handle sour).
This is our mixture of grape juice, sugar and pectin after it had boiled some more.
The stove after the first pot boiled over and made a huge mess, which I'm still trying to clean up (I'm waiting for some more stove top cleaner to get here; I ordered it 2 days ago).
Four good jars of grape jelly!
Boiling them to get them to seal.
Elizabeth helping wash the dishes!
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