Photo below - Man....As I stated in an earlier video, this muscadine grape harvest is gonna be a big one! My early projection is at least (2) 5 gallon buckets full - maybe even three.....At least one will be used for jelly, and another for homemade wine (maybe). Dad and I last made grape jelly about 10 years ago, and it was soooooo good! Of course, i'll post about it.....
Photo below - Although it isn't concerning fruit, it is about one of my bee friends. This is a little sweat bee, and it can pollinate vegetables, as well. They really liked my melon flowers last year.
Photo below - a shot of a little cluster of blackberries. I figure in 2 weeks - the first berries will begin to mature. Boy....I sure do dread the countless hours of picking them, but the rewards are definitely worth it! I'll be making the first batch of jam pretty soon...Woo Hoo!
Photo below - The blueberries are doing fantastic! We should be able to harvest enough to make muffins, and add to breakfast cereal or pancakes (Thanks to the bird netting!)
Photo below - I noticed one of the limbs of a pear tree bent down, and after closer inspection - realized there was a pear on it. Can you believe it? Ha! One stinkin' pear....I'm claiming it for myself.....
On Saturday, i'll be traveling to Hartselle, Alabama - where i'll be a judge in the regional 4-H competition. It should be alot of fun, and hopefully I can take a few photos.
In gardening news, I have just planted my sweet potato slips where the red potatoes were located. They may fail miserably, but I had no choice with the location. We'll just have to wait and see if it will be a problem, I guess. The final summer garden planting will take place in 2 weeks, which will be the pumpkins. I'm hoping the timing will be right for maturity during the 2nd or 3rd week of October. Jack-O-lantern, small ornamental, and a large type (that I don't know the name of) will be the varieties grown, and will be trellised - of course.
Speaking of trellises....a pole bean vine has already reached the top of it's 4 foot trellis, and has latched on to one of the bamboo extensions I installed a while back. One of the melon vines, and cucumbers have latched on, as well.....Cool! I felt like saying to the little vines "there ya go little fella, I built this just for you." Hee Hee...
Take care, and happy gardening!
EG
16 comments:
That will be a lot of grapes. I used to have grape vines but I pulled them out in favor of blueberries. I just wasn't making the grape jelly anymore. It was good though. The blackberries look wonderful. I think if I had to pick between blackberry jelly and grape, I'd go for the blackberry.
Your fruit looks great. Our blueberries aren't as fat. I'm thinking I need to pay more attention to watering them.
WOW! I have not read your blog since winter and I was blown away by all the colorful fruits of your labor! Looking good, can't wait to follow along as we head into summer.
How beautiful! All looks good in the EG orchard!
The fruit is looking good. The apples made it past the frost, so it may be a good year for fruit up north also.
John
Awesome pics.
If you make any muscadine wine, you've got to try something for me! I tried this years ago. I went to a winery in north Mississipi where they make wine from muscadines. I bought several bottles. I had read where you can substitute the wine for the liquid ingredient in cake mix. So I tried it and the cake turned out to be like a moist pound cake. It was so good!!!
Daphne - I agree...the blackberry jam is better than grape jelly. Oh well, i'll make both anyway!
ribbit - I've only let Mother Nature water mine this year. However, I did lower the soil ph back in March, and apply some fertilizer to the plants.
Kelly - Welcome back!
Maureen - Thanks! It's always good to hear from you.....I just noticed that you have a blogger account? I'll have to check that out, for sure!
John - Thanks! I hope your apples do well for ya.
Judy - oh! You'll have to remind me to try that after the harvest. Maybe I can send ya some, too.
I find more and more reasons to be jealous of you!
Especially seeing that lovely pear hehe.
lilegyptiangoddess - Jealous? nah...So, ya like my pear? Well...you can't have it! It's mine...heh.
Sounds great. I was sad yesterday when a young visitor picked the last green apricot -- but since there were at most a dozen, and the squirrels had gotten the other green ones -- I guess it's just not a good year for apricots.
We've been eating rasperries for a month now, and they keep ripening up a few at a time. In another time and place, I'd have a whole hedge of them, but for now they're a treat.
Your blueberries are an inspiration. I'd hoped to plant sweet potatoes, but it appears that my slip production is so much slower than I'd hoped that it's not going to be this year. Drat. I'll enjoy yours by proxy.
Stefaneener - Squirrels can cause so much damage....luckily, they haven't caused any problems for my stuff.
Wow! You have a pear tree? Also, blueberries and strawberries...two of my faves. I don't have any this year, but would it be better if I tried to grow them in pots or in the ground?
Also, how did you lower the PH level of your soil? Did you do this for the blackberries as well?
Kalena Michelle - I have pears, plums, apples, muscadine grapes, blueberries, and wild blackberries. To lower the soil ph, I added sulfur.
Man, I love reading your blog, but most of the time I've been so busy I had to read it on my phone on the bus. I can't seem to post anymore on my phone, so I've been posting belatedly all night, hehe.
I think your fruit is doing amazingly well for all the bad luck you've had this year. I can't wait to see those grapes explode. And my blueberries are 1/10th that size but seeing yours makes my mouth water for mine. That and your blackberry shots tells me I'm so late on getting out there to prune back the dead stuff. Grrr. Time just slips away.
Thanks for sharing!
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