Fruit of the Vine

In September the wild grapes that grow on our west property line start to ripen and turn a dark purple. Some years there aren’t very many. But this year, apparently, was a good year for grapes.
One afternoon Dale picked 4, 5-gallon buckets of them. Then he spent many hours stripping the grapes off of the stems and into a bowl. I was helping with that for only a few of those hours. From there, they get cooked and mashed for a short time to open up the skins and let the juices out. Then they are strained through cloth, put into pitchers and refrigerated to let the sediment drop to the bottom. Then it is strained again. Now it is ready to be made into frozen grape jelly and juice.
A few days later after Dale picked more grapes, I canned wild grape jelly instead of freezing it. Canned jelly is easier than frozen to give to someone.

Dale is also trying grape wine for the first time. We’ll see how well that turns out.

Working with wild grapes is an awful lot of work. The grapes are quite small compared to regular grapes and also quite tart. It takes a lot of time to get them off the stems and have them ready to work with.
But, as with many things in life, it takes hard work and diligence to complete a project or see something through to the end.
Whether it’s cleaning the garage, canning jelly or salsa, or just struggling through life in my attempt to become more like my Maker, it is worth it.

I have a clean garage to enjoy each time I open up the door.

I have home-made canned goods to share.

I have a life that prayerfully reflects the image of my God whom I serve.