Melondy Phillips
Staff Writer
Our tiny little garden cannot provide all of our family’s food needs each year, so as the harvest season draws to a close I enjoy having the ability to glean from others around me. Gleaning, or collecting leftovers after a harvest, is a great way to minimize food waste while increasing one’s food stores. It is not only a time-honored tradition in many parts of the world but was a legally enforced entitlement for the poor and widows in some cultures throughout history.
Two years ago, we were able to harvest grapes from someone else’s vines as well as take a few clippings to start our own. The clippings are growing well but are not old enough to start producing fruit yet. Last year we did not get any grapes at all. This year, we had a couple of people generously allow us to glean from their vines after they had finished harvesting for themselves. Many of the grapes were shriveling or dried up completely, but there were also many good ones left. If a cluster had 15 dried grapes and only one or two good ones on it, I still clipped off the whole cluster. This was to help clean up the vine for an easier pruning next spring.
Since I have had a lot of people asking me about how I processed the grapes I reaped, I thought I would write about it this week.
Once we got home with the bounty of grapes, we took the time to go through every one, sorting them into groups for snacks, juicing, chicken treats, or for the compost pile. The grapes set aside for us were soaked in water with apple cider vinegar for about 10 minutes and then rinsed. The prettiest firmest grapes were spread out on traps and placed into the freezer. After the grapes had frozen, they were transferred into sealed bags and are being stored for snacks throughout this next year.
Most of the rest of the washed grapes were processed in batches through the steam juicer over the course of two days. In ancient times, and in some cultures around the world today, grape juice was produced by crushing them with your feet. Although I do enjoy doing most things the “old way,” juicing grapes is one area of work where I am thankful for modern equipment.
I know it is a common practice to catch the hot juice, from a steam juicer, straight into jars, cap them, and then set them aside so they can self-seal. There is nothing wrong with that, but I prefer doing things a little differently. The fruit concentration may be different strengths at different times throughout the process. Since I want all my juice to taste the same, I drain the streaming juice into a large collection pot until the whole batch is complete. From there, I fill each of my jars with the mingled juice and process them in a water bath canner. The time needed isn’t very long but can vary depending on factors such as jar size and elevation.
The juice that comes from the stream juicer is a one-to-one concentrate. So, when I want to make a batch of juice for drinking, I add one quart of grape juice concentrate to a half gallon jar, pour in about a half cup of sugar (depending on the sweetness of the grapes), top it off with another quart of water, place the lid on, and give it a little shake to mix it up. I can then enjoy a delicious juice – for about five minutes before the whole jar is gone.
For several half gallon jars, I used a quick method for making juice. Into several half gallon jars each, I placed two cups of grapes and a half cup of sugar. I then topped off each jar with boiling water, placed the lids on, and water bath canned them for about 20 minutes. Some people skip the water bath step. You can drink the juice right away but the flavor will improve and strengthen if allowed to steep for a while.
The limp remains taken from the top of the juicer still have some delicious juice left. I have several small cotton cloths that are used strictly for food prep and juicing; I placed one of these into the press and scoop the grape mush into it. To seal the grapes inside, I twisted the edges of the cloth together and folded it over. The next step is simple but should not be rushed. I slowly turn the screw on the press just until there was some resistance. I then allowed it to rest for a few minutes while the juice slowly seeped through the cloth. Forcing this too hard could cause small bits of the very soft fruit to be pushed through the cloth, resulting in sediment in the juice. After about an hour, I had a couple more quarts of pressed juice for the water bath. This juice was labeled for making jelly when I have time later. Upon seeing the beautiful deep purple, dried two-inch thick disk that I pulled out of the press, my husband exclaimed “It’s fruit cake!”
After all the grapes had been processed, we ended up with about 15 gallons of grape juice, a few bags of frozen snacks, some delightful treats for the chickens, and bulk added to the annual compost pile.
Our thanks go out to those who allowed us to glean.