It's been sooo long.  Business has been on and off.  Meanwhile there has been plenty of grass to cut and animals to care for.  County Fair has come and gone and we're already preparing for next April.

 

The mustang grapes (Wild Muscadines) are in and "jelly" (sort of) the figs are coming on strong.  Cucumbers are sneaking up on us too!  Each year we are trying to be more self sufficient on the farm side.  For those self sufficient types here's what we did, from my journal...

 

First, we learned Josh and 16' ladders are not a good combination...  Anyhow, about 10 gallons of grapes later...

 

Muscadine grape jelly-

 

Batch 1:

 

Followed “Juice for Jelly recipe” from Ball Blue Book p. 30

 

~4 c. grape juice

3 c. sugar

 

Boiled the bujeezums out of it (per Ball “no pectin” recipe) to about ¼ volume i.e., 2 hours!?!  Still didn’t gel so I added a packet of pectin (Sure Gel No Sugar).  Yield:  4 1/2 pints and they actually jelled.

 

 

Batch 2: 

 

Followed “Juice for Jelly recipe” from Ball Blue Book p. 30

 

~6 c. grape juice

7 c. sugar

 

Boiled hard a few minutes.  Followed pectin packet insert.  Still didn’t gel.  Yield:  8 1/2 pints that didn’t jel.

 

Will reprocess and see how they come out.