Take a walk on the Wild side

Do dee do dee do do do...
Say hey babe, take a walk on the wild side!

Between the huge flush of Chicken of the Woods and the Wild Apples, it has been a booming wild week. 
I took some C.O.W. to Olive along with some wild apple jelly and got an apple pie from a wild apple tree in return.

There are two places that have wild grapes that are easy to get to. One is on the side of the gravel road and one is a huge grape vine that has been growing up the metal section of an old hay rack that leans up against our busted up garage. [See? the junk pile serves a purpose!]

The shots below are from the grape vine alongside the road. It is intertwined with a sugar maple and so the colors right now are very bright. See those little grapes?

I thought I'd taste some this year and they are sweet! So.
Since I'd made apple jelly from wild apples, I thought I'd see how hard it was to make grape jelly from tiny grapes!

Apparently Concord Grapes are very expensive these days [I used to have access to concords when a relative grew some on their farm]. They are the best grapes to use for jelly.

These are free! It takes a bit more time to pick enough, but I thought I'd give it a go.

 

I washed the grape bunches and then started picking them over and inspecting them. The process is tedious but with the help from music and ...

a bit of help from my friends...

[you know I can't help but bring my Lego Minifigures into the kitchen for help!]

This is what the process looks like.

From my first picking, I got nearly 2 1/2 cups of juice without putting the skins and seeds through a food mill. I had to go out and get some more but with 5 cups of juice, I can make a batch of Wild Grape Jelly.

While I was cooking up the grapes, I was also working on some not wild food. I'd purchased about 4 lbs of carrots at the Farmers Market. They were super sweet and delicious. I needed to get some frozen and vacuum sealed for winter veggies.

Farmer Bob came to the rescue and helped haul some of the larger carrots. It seems that they were too large for his little trailer! Fortunately, Bob seems to never get upset over difficult situations.

I need to be more like Bob.

I got a huge pot of them cut up and blanched.

I ended up with 7 servings of carrots frozen and ready to eat this winter and two half pints of dehydrated carrots mixed with onions, green beans, and tomatoes. Those half pints are what I dump into a broth I'll make out of the mushrooms or a beef broth for making soup this fall and winter.

I figure if I spend the day prepping food for future use, it will give me more time to explore and love the outdoors.

I can take more time to Walk on the Wild Side.