The ripening of my Concord Grapes brings back memories of my youth. We had a large Concord vine growing on an arbor along our farmhouse lawn. The grapes would begin ripening near the end of summer. It seemed they were always ready to eat by the first day of school. I remember my brother and I coming home from school and feasting on the delicious grapes.
Concord Grapes have a thick skin. The way we always ate them was to squeeze the grape while holding the stem end between our lips. The result was an explosion of flavor as the pulp popped into our mouths leaving the skin between our fingers.
As life goes, many years have passed since my school days and the old vine has long since perished.
When I moved to my current residence thirty years ago I planted two vines. I took this shot of them about a week ago and tonight while mowing the lawn I noticed that many of the grapes were ripe. The mowing had to wait as I again relived old memories. Childhood memories brought alive by the taste of those wonderful grapes.
Today was the first day of School
Wow, this pic brings back memories of going to my grandparents and eating the grapes off of the vine. We used to do the same thing... pop the "insides" out of the skin. My kids do the same now with the grapes at my parents house.
ReplyDeleteHow FUN!
It's funny....I was just sitting in the car this evening after school let out, waiting for my kids and listening to the cicadas. I, too was thinking about my childhood and how the sound of cicadas brings back such vivid and wonderful memories from my past.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your sweet comments on my blog. We 'country' folks have to stick together!
That same grapevine brings back memories of my youth, too :) I remember eating the grapes after picking up potatoes in the fall. And potato picking brings back all sorts of memories - riding on the wagon, the old wire egg baskets, the feed sacks, and bare feet in the soil. And the feeling of fall in the air!
ReplyDeleteI was a kid, though, and thought it was all great fun. The adults who had to do the hard work might not agree :)
How wonderful to have a grape vine just at your doorstep ;) I always have to trust my fruitseller recommending good grapes for me though!
ReplyDeleteHome grown grapes are the absolute best.Our new house has had so many grapes. We have eaten and given aways pounds and pounds of them. I've never experienced just picking them off the vine and popping them in my mouth before. Its been a heavenly treat.
ReplyDeleteAlas, the season is finished here. My last ones are in a bowl and beginning to shrivel. I hate to see them come to an end.
A great memory well told. I am writing this with a happy smile on my face and reliving a few memories of my own.
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ReplyDeleteI love grapes but these Concord grapes that grew up on vines around where I lived had a taste only Concord grape fans can love. I don't like the taste. I think some of that had to do with their being planted beside the outhouses in our village.
ReplyDeleteDon't get me wrong, I ate them and squeezed them out of their skins and spit the seeds out with the best of them, but I still didn't like them.
Maybe you have a different kind of Concord grape. You sound like you really like them. Lots of people do, I guess I am not one of them but I do like your photograph. ANd I did enjoy reading about putting off mowing while you ate some grapes. I do those kinds of things too.
Anyway, I came to thank you for visiting my blog today and for the comment. I appreciate it a lot.
I went to a country school and the we always knew school was about out in the spring when the dandelions bloomed. It was world war two and the school year was very short compared to nowadays.
Thanks again.
As school begins, I'm glad I'm not in school anymore.
ReplyDeleteLove this photo. I remember picking those kinds of grapes years ago.
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