Harvest time is here. I picked my slim wine grape crop the other day. Most of the grapes had developed a fungus and turned black. The abundant rain we had this year, followed by a very cool spring, encouraged the fungal growth. Due to my broken knee, I was unable to get in the vineyard to treat them with bio copper sulfate. This left the vines wide open to fungal infections. However, the grapes I did pick were the best tasting in years. Sadly, there aren’t enough to make wine this year. I spent two hours de-stemming the grapes and putting them in containers to decide what to make with them. I am quite surprised the birds didn’t eat them. Perhaps they saw the fungus on the other grapes and steered clear. The ones I picked were a deep blue black, and my hydrometer rated the sugar content at 22 brix; some even higher. After mulling my options, I decided to cook them into jelly with mulling spices of cinnamon, star anise, and allspice. I would have added cardamon seed but didn’t find any in my cabinet.
This process took a long time. I started in the morning and wasn’t finished until the afternoon. I had to first cook the grapes down with some sugar. I basically used very little sugar, about 4 cups for the 20 cups of grapes. I added 2 large cinnamon sticks, about 4 star anise, and about 1 Tablespoon of allspice seeds. This took several hours to cook until all the grapes popped. I rested them to cool and then put them through my food mill, removing the spices and setting them aside. I was left with 10 cups of wine grape liquid. I added no sugar sure jell pectin to get it to set. I have tried setting jellies with just lemon juice and rind, but it wasn’t successful. I stirred the sure jell, 1/4 cup of sugar, and 1 Tablespoon of bottled lemon juice into a small amount of wine juice liquid and whisked it together before adding it into the juice. I then turned up the heat to medium high and stirred until it was really boiling. Time it for 1 minute and turn it off. Ladle the jelly into hot sterilized jars and seal with the new lids and rings. I then processed them for 15 minutes in the boiling water which needs to cover the jars with water an inch higher than the jar. Remove the jars and let them sit. The jellies won’t truly set up for about 24 hours.
While I was waiting for the jelly to cook, I decided to turn to the figs. My fig harvest has been very abundant this year. It started with my white honey figs and now finally my tiger stripe figs are coming in. I already made several jars of white fig jam. And then a few days ago, I made jam from my tiger stripe figs and some port wine that needed to be used up. I love to eat these figs. They are so full of flavor with a deep magenta color inside. The flavor has been compared to raspberry jam. They give off a perfumely odor when fully ripe. Its hard to not just stand there gorging on this figs while I pick. We put them in everything from yogurt, salads, nut butter toast, pizza, pies and main courses. I decided to preserve some in brandy for desserts in the winter. These figs are huge, usually 3 inches across and often the bottom splits open. Drying them would lose their beautiful magenta color. So, I decided to use some of the leftover wine juice. I had about a cup of so left. I added back the cinnamon sticks I took out of the wine grape juice and added more fresh star anise. I also added about 1 Tablespoon of lemon juice, 1/4 cup of agave (since the juice was already sweetened), and 1/2 cup of water. I brought that to a strong simmer, then added 1 cup of brandy and turned off the heat. While this was heating, I cut my very large figs into quarters and placed in 4 sterilized pint jars. Once the liquid was ready, I poured it over the top and sealed the jars. They were then put back in the water bath for 12 minutes. I tasted a little leftover juice and it was fantastic. Since the wine juice was deep maroon, it is helping keep the color of the figs. Time will tell how long the color lasts. I plan to move them to a dark, cool cupboard for at least a month.
About two years ago, I dug up my black fig tree that was planted in a bad location and suffered from our long drought. I planted what was left, which was not more than a stick, into a huge pot. It started reviving last year but this year it is really starting to take off. I see there are three figs on the tree right now. Everyone laughed at me when I said I was going to revive it. Perhaps all that rain did it some good.
The day before the equinox, the wrens were being very vocal. They were just sitting on the electric ines and trilling for about 20 minutes. I am not sure what brought that on as I didn’t see any threats to them in the area. My cats were inside and neither goes after birds since they are well fed. Perhaps the birds are just celebrating the onset of autumn.
Reflections Outside My Window 