Grape picking and Juice making.

Apparently there is a lot of fruit to be picked out here. I had a friend from the ward invite Edison and I to come out to a grape orchard to pick our own concord grapes with the goal to make our own grape juice. This was not an opportunity that I wanted to miss out on...me making my own grape juice? Of course!

It was about an hour and half to the orchard, and fall was just beginning to creep in. It made for a beautiful drive.

Edison loved that grapes were finally for once not on a high refrigerator shelf, but just at the very touch of his fingertips. He ate plenty off the vine, and I encouraged it.

The orchard.

These grapes tasted just like how grapes should taste. None of this store bought plastic bag grape taste, but the real thing. The grape flavor that every candy, or juice, or soda tries to imitate, except these were real, and they were good.

In the end my friend and I picked at total of 110lbs of grapes. Give me a toga, and a vine for my head and I'm legit! I ended up taking a share of 30lbs at the total tally of $7.50.

Wow. I never thought I'd learn to can, fruits, veggies, tuna, ANYTHING. But here I am in my little kitchen with my hand picked 30lbs of grapes making my very own grape juice concentrate. I felt like I could take on the world. I will say however, that it's a lot of work, and something that I probably won't feel like doing till next year when I get nostalgic for the experience. I could of made a whole entire Thanksgiving dinner by the time I got through the last of the grapes.

However, the joy and pride I felt when I placed these 12 jars of hand picked, concord grape juice jars in my basement was unexplainable. Hand me the wheat, give me the grinder and I'll make you some bread. I did it, and boy was it delicious in every way.