Harvest! Grapes

Grapes have ripened already. It's a bit early, but we've had really hot weather since May. These are my favorites. Since we have such sweet grapes in our vineyard garden, I almost never buy grapes. I can wait until ours are ripe for the picking. Harvest has begun!

Grapes, Glorious Grapes

Some things are worth waiting for...

Our little vineyard, which we barely cultivate, has been amazingly good to us. Just a little patience and we get the greatest grapes. I really love the dark grapes which grow by the sidewalk.

The other day my husband climbed up on the wall to get me some clusters of them. They are sweeter than candy. The only candy that competes, as far as I'm concerned, is chocolate-covered mint. But I'm a "mint freak."  Maybe that's why I like to brush my teeth a few times a day.

This year at the suggestion of a neighbor who makes wine out of our grapes some years, I watered the vines when it was dry in the winter. The grapes are a bit better. Just don't forget that the Shiloh area is one of those most suited in the entire world for growing grapes. Gd made Shiloh for grape growing. But since the area is filled with construction dust from the roadworks being done, I can no longer nosh on them when walking by. But after a good rinse...

Patience....

Thank Gd for the blessings of our grapes, which grow so plentifully in our garden. But they aren't yet ready for "harvesting." I must admit that I've had a few so far, really dark ones, just for a taste. And they are sweet and delicious. But it's a waste to pick the red ones until the entire bunch is ripe and dark. And it's a total disaster to pick the green ones when they still look solid and waxy. They only ripen on the vine.

When I was checking them out the other day, a song from one of my favorite musicals, Dreamgirls, kept going through my mind... "Patience..."

Growing Grapes, Report

Our grapes are growing but still far from edible. The neighbor who shares them with us for making wine has now covered them with netting and added some wasp traps.

I've also been asked to water them periodically, every few weeks, which I've done. Now we still have a couple of months to wait until they are ripe, delicious for eating and winemaking.  Further reports to follow, Gd willing.

More Garden Cleaning, Should Make for More Roses and Grapes

I think when it comes to vines, less makes more. Let's see if this great pruning really works. For a decade or more the grapes and roses were mired in a mess that prevented both from flourishing the way the should have. So, a neighbor took the initiate and offered, OK for money, to do this massive pruning which we really should be doing annually.

I'll keep reporting as the winter progresses on the roses, and then in the spring we'll see the beginnings of the grape clusters, Gd willing.

Grape Update- What's New in The Vineyard

As many of you know, I consider the fruitfulness of our little "vineyard" as proof that the Shiloh area is the spot Gd created for grape-growing. With less than minimal care over the years, the three vines planted about twenty-five years ago have produced a very impressive amount of absolutely delicious grapes. The key is patience. They are late-ripening ones.

A few years ago, a neighbor made a deal with us and used our grapes, there were still plenty left for eating, to make a nice white wine. And this year, he plans on doing it again. He even covered the vines with some netting he had.

Gd willing, I'll let you know in a few months what happens. And I've also told the gardener who cleared out the "forest primeval" that I'd like him to hang the vines this coming winter. That should give us a better, larger and easier to harvest crop of grapes. Now a whole section is tangled up in the rose bushes, which also need care, cropping and pruning. And on the other side the vines are slithering on the ground among the weeds.

Ripening Grapes, Delish!

It takes patience, but it's worth it. We have the most delicious grapes growing in our little arbor/trellis/pergola outside. The only problem is that they are all, all three types, ripen very late in the season/summer.

Just now,  at the end of July (and the Jewish Month of Tammuz,) are the grapes beginning to be edible. It doesn't pay to pick them early, because they just don't taste good and will not ripen off of the vine.

Our grapes are totally organic, and the only water they get is rain. (The first few years after planting we had watering system, but after it deteriorated, the rain sufficed.) That makes them extra sweet. A neighbor who once picked a nice quantity from them to make wine for both our families, is thinking of bringing a net to cover them from the birds and wasps. Then he'll try making wine from them, again.

I don't know the technical wine mavin term, but a sign of ripeness for green grapes is when the grapes look rather translucent, rather than waxy. The red/dark grapes must be dark to be ripe and sweet.

Last Sweet Taste of Summer

For weeks it has looked like our grapes were finished, but yesterday when I was hanging wash I saw a tempting bunch and took a picture and a taste.

Yes, they were sweet, the perfect end of summer treat.

If We Can Grow Grapes in Shiloh, then it is The Best Place for Vinyards

I must admit that my husband and I are the worst gardeners in the world. I used to do some gardening and even schlepped home and planted gorgeous rose bushes, all shades but red. Way back when, I planted trees and flowers, too. But in recent years, nada, nothing. Our rose bushes are a thorny nightmare, and the rest of the "garden" makes the forest primeval look cultivated and landscaped.

There are two exceptions, a large olive tree planted by the community (Shiloh)before we built our house and our vineyard, which was planned and planted with the help of some neighbors many (about 25) years ago.

Every year we, and some neighbors, enjoy the riches of our fruitful vineyard. And it is 100% clear that this is due to Gd, and Gd only, because we really don't do anything but enjoy it. Our grapes are more than organic; they are Gifts from Gd.

grapes from our vineyard 

Agricultural experts and archaeologists here are discovering how many rich this area once was in terms of grape-growing. At the כנס שילה Kennes Shiloh Conference we saw more newly discovered ancient vats and heard Professor Shivi Drori speak of the numerous ancient grapes that had grown here and are being discovered all over Israel. Local wines were big business, because wine was a daily drink.

And it's very obvious that if we can grow grapes, they must really be growing "wild."

Finally Some Grapes in the Garden

This isn't our best crop/harvest, but at least we can finally eat some.

Will Our Grapes Ripen this Summer?

So far, although the stores are full of delicious grapes, and most people who grow them are able to pick from their very own vineyard, ours looks rather retarded and pathetic. Grape season seems far away, and the pool is already open.

It's not like there's no sign of grapes, it's just that I wonder if they'll ripen before winter returns. Can we turn this into a very symbolic story? I guess there's no end at this point. This is some sort of great test for me. Don't you think so?

At leas there are obvious signs that the grapes are growing. Summer should last as long as needed.

In The Garden, This World and The World to Come

My grapes and roses seem rather intertwined. 

The difference is that there are already roses blooming, but the grapes won't be grapes for a few months. We have late grapes, which grow, ripen and sweeten only at the end of the summer, G-d willing.

Tada.... FINALLY!

Yes, the grapes are ripe for picking and eating!  We brought a lot to the kiddies for Shabbat.  I had the little ones telling me in English how many they wanted at a time:

"one, two, three"

And suddenly when I asked them, my grandson said:

"six"

So I gave him six!  That's a good way to get them using a bit of English.

We're Getting Closer

Every week or so I've been updating you with pictures of the grapes!  Li'at, li'at as they say in Hebrew, slowly, slowly.

When the dark grapes are dark purple they are ready.  Closer to the house there are green grapes.  They ripen even later on in the summer. They must be translucent to be ripe and sweet.  Now they look waxy, like cheap wax ones.

Patience, Just Another Week or Two or ...

A couple of weeks ago I took this photo

And then last week I took this one:

As you can see the grapes are starting to get dark, getting purple, deep dark purple.  When they're all purple, they'll be ready to eat, and I'll eat them, G-d willing.  It's worth waiting or they just won't be sweet enough.  We have late ripening grapes, and the green grapes, which are larger ripen even later.

Patience, patience....

The Now and the Soon, G-d Willing

Illustrated by these two pictures.

 

 

Chodesh Tov and Shabbat Shalom