I have been trying to find Concord grapes to make grape jelly all week. The one place that got them in sold out in 2 hours before I could make it to the stand. When we first bought our homestead, I planted a couple of grape plants and planted them randomly along some fence line and then promptly forgot about them. Until now. I went out looking for them and they haven’t grown at all. I dug them out of the ground to see what was going on.
Turns out the roots were completely balled up. Clay soil for you. So I dug all the grape plants out, cleaned the roots up, and repotted them in pots in my greenhouse for the winter. I gave them a big feeding of fertilizer and I’ll replant them in the spring as soon as the ground is workable. Fingers crossed they survive all winter in a pot.
I thought my peppers were donezo for the season because of the cooler weather coming in. They were like Surprise! WE ARE STILL HERE AND THRIVING. So that was a nice surprise. Peas are also coming in looking good. I am definitely getting worn out and ready for a winter rest. I did not think that would happen, but this season has been the busiest yet.
I didn’t get much done this week in other areas because I spent almost four full days processing apples. I got a bushel each of fuji, Honeycrisp, and gala apples. I dehydrated 3 gallons worth of apple slices and made applesauce, BBQ sauce, and apple pie filling. All the scraps were split between making apple cider vinegar and thrown in my steam juicer to make apple juice. I am hoping I did the math right and this will be our year’s supply of apples. I also had enough peppers to make another batch of cowboy candy.
We have added to the homestead this week in the form of two cats. They were feral wild cats that a neighbor’s friend had started feeding. He had to move and his new place didn’t allow animals so he was looking for a new home for them and we jumped at the chance. They are currently in our basement getting used to the new environment. They are still pretty nervous around us but each day is getting a little better. The vet said just keep feeding them and showing them we are safe and hopefully they will warm up to us. Meet Wedge and Salem.
