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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:23 PM
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Grapes

Maybe u guys can help me out./..a bit perplexed. 3 yrs ago my brother and I planted a baby grape vine so that mom could have fresh grape leaves she could later use to stuff. We never actually thought about the grape aspect. Anyhoo so last year it gave us a bunch of grapes...all summer long I excitedly checked to see when it would ripen but the grapes always seemed hard/ not ripe and not sweet yet. Finally we took them off the plant when they had pretty much began to shrivel. They smellled sooooooooooooooooo good, like strawberry kiwi juice (seriously!!) but I dont remember if we tasted them..I think not cuz they were shrivelled at that point.

Anyway, this year again we have grapes...this time 3 bunches. We left for Egypt while they were there and thought for sure theyd be ripe when we came back...nope. Still here. Still hard w thick skin. Does anyone know if theres something we need to do to help them along?? When are they supposed to be picked? (whens the season in ontario maybe?).

We'd really love to actually try them this yr! Took these shots right now after the rain...
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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:25 PM
Chris21711 Chris21711 is offline
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I know absolutely nothing about grapes, but I think it is cute to see you in the gardening forum
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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:26 PM
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Forgot to mention, very good looking grapes.
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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:27 PM
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lol

cute cuz im so hopeless??? And to think my granparents were farmers lol
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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:29 PM
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Originally Posted by Chris21711 View Post
Forgot to mention, very good looking grapes.
thank u!

the only think i could thing of was to trim the big leaves off of the clusters so they could get sun...but then after some google research apparently that does nothing because they ripen dependant on the nutrients and such they recieve from the vine itself

I wish I knew what variety they are too.....theyre not red thats all I know

Last edited by onster; September 7th, 2008 at 04:23 PM.
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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:31 PM
Chris21711 Chris21711 is offline
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You are not hopeless, just cute and funny and smart. I knew absolutely nothing about plants when I was 22 and even though I read a lot of stuff about them, one look at my garden and you would never know it.
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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:33 PM
Chris21711 Chris21711 is offline
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Originally Posted by onster View Post
thank u!

the only think i could think of was to trim the big leaves off of the clusters so they could get sun...but then after some google research apparently that does nothing because they ripen dependant on the nutrients and such they recieve from the vine itself

I wish I knew what variety they are too.....theyre not red thats all I know
Different varities mature at different times, and that's all I know.
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Old September 7th, 2008, 01:46 PM
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u still didnt get anything in the mail?? ure queensville postmen are so lazy


back on topic which was off topic anyway, lol ....awww thanks ure too sweet. really, my mom cant stop talking to everyone about how nice u and ethel are....ure famous in egypt

I visited my dads little farm once in Egypt. I still remember how all the cows peeed in unison when I entered their shed and how the mommy horse knocked me to the ground when I got too close to her foal lol. what lovely childhood memories eh? I dont have any "book smarts" about plants or anything..im just waiting for some ancesrtral instincts to kick in

and that was even more offtopic...anyhoo i gots to run, pots that need to be washed and cooking to be learned through observation
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  #9  
Old September 7th, 2008, 05:14 PM
Chris21711 Chris21711 is offline
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u still didnt get anything in the mail?? ure queensville postmen are so lazy
I haven't been to the PO since last Tuesday, I have a box remember, I'm never in a hurry to get bills I will be going one day this week tho'. Nice of your Mum to talk kindly about your cyber-friends over here.

Back to Grapes nomnom
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Old September 7th, 2008, 05:25 PM
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Onster - grapes generally aren't ready until the end of Sept, first week of Oct. Those ones definately aren't red/purple.
Try one now. It won't kill you. Then wait a few weeks and you will see the difference. Now they will be sour(ish) and not too good. In a few weeks the sugar will have set and they will be much sweeter. Supposedly the more sun/rain, the sweeter the grape. So this year they should be really sweet. Unfortunately the rain may also start mould too. I don't see any mould on those.
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Old September 7th, 2008, 05:32 PM
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ohh ya ...forgot about that peskey box chris.



Thanks so much for the info 14+ and ive already tasted them, twice. 2nd time the skin was a little thinner but still not sweet. First time was tasteless/rubbery.


Ill wait a few weeks then. Cant wait
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Old September 7th, 2008, 06:18 PM
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Grapes need a few good frosts to sweeten up. You'll know they're ripe for sure when you see the birds eating them.

Cindy
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Old September 7th, 2008, 09:52 PM
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When I get really energetic I go pick some of our grapes and make juice. My hubby's niece really loves it! We have about 5 acres that we were hoping to pull this year but didn't get to it. Another clean up project for next year.
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Old September 19th, 2008, 04:26 PM
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Thumbs down

I guess I waited too long :sad:

theres not one grape left on the vine I found the skins of the grapes at the base of the plant, dried up brown hollow shells. Picked one up it had itty bitty teeth/claw marks on it. So very strange. I should take a pic. dunno how they did it

I mean not only did the mystery creature eat my grapes but its a picky eater too
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Old September 19th, 2008, 04:57 PM
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Racoons? Or birds. Hubby says that birds usually don't eat the skin. They usually just pick holes through it.
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  #16  
Old September 20th, 2008, 10:51 AM
Chris21711 Chris21711 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by onster View Post
I guess I waited too long :sad:

There, there Onster. There's always next year
theres not one grape left on the vine I found the skins of the grapes at the base of the plant, dried up brown hollow shells. Picked one up it had itty bitty teeth/claw marks on it. So very strange. I should take a pic. dunno how they did it

I mean not only did the mystery creature eat my grapes but its a picky eater too
It's nice of you to share
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Old September 27th, 2008, 05:30 PM
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I think it was a chipmunk. Ive been seeing a chipmunk everyday now eating peanuts from the birdfeeder and generally chilling around the yard.

....this makes failed attempt number 2 though :sad: I never got to eat my strawberries either cuz all the critters ate them....i soooo wanted to be a semi farm hippie girl lol
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Old September 28th, 2008, 02:12 AM
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....i soooo wanted to be a semi farm hippie girl lol
Like Chris




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Old September 28th, 2008, 02:13 AM
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I think it was a chipmunk. Ive been seeing a chipmunk everyday now eating peanuts from the birdfeeder and generally chilling around the yard.

And, where's the pics?
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  #20  
Old October 23rd, 2008, 08:53 PM
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I'm wondering what variety these are. They look a bit like a wine grape. I'd say they're a white or green variety rather than one of the reds or Concord types. If they're going to darken you ought to see a very faint blush on them as they get close to ripening. If they are in fact a wine type, then they'll be sour. After the labels fell off, I found out the hard way which ones of mine weren't meant for eating fresh!

My grapes ripen from mid-September on (southern Nova Scotia). I was able to make some really nice jelly from the reds and blues, then mixed reds and whites and the jelly looked almost like honey.

But this is kind of a moot point now, since critters ate yours. Sorry to hear that. Next year you might have a bumper crop, though. Mine were slow to take off and then all of aa sudden I had more grapes than I could use! I actually wanted something to come along and eat them.

Birds have almost no taste buds so they don't care if fruit are sour. Could've been bluejays, which are very inventive. Or mice. Or both.
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