I’ve always liked grapes. I loved to look for them in the cans of fruit cocktail Granny fed us when I was little and I begged for them when I’d see them in the grocery store. Granny liked them too so I didn’t have to beg too hard.
Wild grapes grow along the creek that runs through our holler. Pap always called them fox grapes so we do too. The grapes make great jelly but are so tart they aren’t good for eating out of hand.
Many years ago one of Miss Cindy’s friends gave us two grape vine cuttings that he took from his established vines. I don’t remember the name of the variety, but we still have them growing all these years later. The grapes are purple and are ripe by mid summer. They make great juice and jelly and are also tasty to eat out of hand.
A few years back Jim Casada shared a bucket of scuppernong grapes with me and I was in love! They are the best grapes I’ve ever eaten. A mixture of sweet, spicy, and tart.
After eating practically the entire bucket by myself I decided I needed grow my own.
A very dear friend gave me a gift certificate to Ison’s nursery for Christmas and I immediately ordered a grape vine. The variety is magnolia. The grapes ripen in September here on the north side of the mountain.
The vine has produced a few grapes each year. This year it has the most so far, still not enough to put up, but I’m thankful for every little grape and have greatly enjoyed eating them.
Once I discovered scuppernongs I noticed Peachtree Produce has them in late summer. I usually buy a few cartons to eat.
When I first started making kefir water I tried using grapes I bought from the grocery store. It never turned out right and I gave up. One day I decided to try making a jar of scuppernong kefir water. It was so good! The water tasted like a grape Nehi only better.
Tipper
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I never knew of scuppernongs until we came to Georgia. Jaemor Farms east of us has them each year. I had not seen any wild grapes except muscadines for years then found some by Watauga Lake in September 2024, just days before Hurricane Helene struck. I’ve posted here before about what in Kentucky we called “fox grapes”. They are small, black, shiny and have a metallic taste. It has been many a day since I have seen them. Since we moved here, north Georgia has become “Wine Country” it seems. We are too close to Atlanta metro to not change in multiple ways. Sort of off the subject but not quite – In September Troyers Country Mrkt in Limestone, TN takes bulk orders for Concord grapes shipped from New York. I think they were first found in the wild somewhere in the NE US.
pray for me please, i have an appointment tomorrow to see ear nose and throat doctor, hopefully they will run a light through my nose and down into my throat see what’s going on with the pain, thank you to everybody that’s been praying for me, God bless you all in Jesus name 10:45 appointment over in Dawson county, I hope my Transportation shows up this time,
I know a lady that makes wine cake at Christmas, I think her wine is scuppernong, it is some really good cake, I found a vine back in the summer, it looked like concord grapes, they were pretty good, they were really big, to be in the wild woods,
My Dad’ mom had scuppernongs (scuppeenines) growing on one side of their barn and they were good. She also had purple grapes muscadine (muskydines) which I loved because they were so sweet and delicious. She made grape jam and jelly out of both. We recently found a place selling muskydine jelly, I made some toast on homemade bread and it was heaven. It was a taste of home and my childhood. I miss my parents. It’s wonderful to have good memories. Thanks for sharing yours with me. Much love, Jane in SC.
Years ago, we had two neighbors that had some scuppernong grape vines, they would give some to mother and she would make jelly from them. I have heard scuppernongs referred to by some as yellow muscadines. They are probably in the same “family” but are not the same to my way of thinking. I never seen any scuppernongs growing wild like the dark purplish muscadines do.