A very grape success!
Autumn is a busy time for kitchen gardeners – harvest time where all the hard work throughout the year pays finally off.
With the harvest also comes the task with preserving and eating of course. This year, we haven’t grown much other than tomatoes (thanks to my friend Agnes for the young tomato plants a few months back) in our glasshouse, onions and a potato plant that somehow survived.
Our beetroot wasn’t that lucky as the birds and slugs got to them – we both love beetroot, so that was a bit of heartache.
When I see my Agnes’ harvest, I feel rather inadequate but we succeeded this year in harvesting our first grapes – yes ladies and gentlemen, Irish grown grapes.
A few years ago, our neighbour Gerry told Mr T that he had grown grapes successfully and Mr T was on the quest to match the success.
It took us a while to find a grape plant but persistent as only he can be, we finally found one. It was planted with love and care and looked after with even more care.
But for about five years - no grapes. A lot of leaves and a strong root but no grapes. The leaves made for a nice covering in our outdoor nook but each year, Mr T was watching the plant carefully hoping to find some fruit.
Can you imagine the joy on our faces when in late spring we discovered the formation of some tender grapes among the leaves? We prayed for a hot summer to ensure that the grapes would grow strong.
To make a long story short, the grapes didn’t grow much bigger but they were full of flavour, sweet and juicy. I have to admit, I was very surprised how lovely they tasted and how many we were able to harvest.
The bounty was worth the years of waiting. The plant is now strong and will hopefully give us many more fruit in the future.
Grape vines can give fruit for many years as some of the oldest vineyards are still producing wine from plants that are over 50 years old – so we are indeed hopeful. Our grapes are green while my brother in Germany has two plants – red and green – and he had to show off his harvest.
Not that I was jealous in any way – okay, I was but we are happy with our success.
Many years ago, I met a chef who cooked a fish dish with grapes. I normally don’t like fruit in my dishes and I couldn’t imagine how grapes could possibly be served with fish but I have to admit, it wasn’t bad.
I wouldn’t order it from a menu (the dish didn’t convince me to add fruit to my cooking) and I lost the recipe but it was an interesting dish.
At a cookery class I was giving for a client a few years back, I roasted red grapes with balsamic vinegar and topped a goats cheese toast with them – that was delicious. There are many more ideas on how to use grapes (apart from just plain eating them) and I will be hopefully better prepared next year (if I am quick enough before Mr T eats them all!).