The Grape Grower
Friday, April 18th, 2008
Recipes from the episode: Favorite Grape Pie; Green Grape Pie
Director’s Journal
My backyard came with a grape vine. It was winter when I moved in, and I had no idea what type of grape it was. Canes were stretching their arms out and under it all I found an old gnarly trunk. Never having a grape vine before, I left it alone, figuring, if I was lucky, I’d get some grapes at the end of summer.
Sure enough, some of the most delicious seedy Concord grapes emerged. My family ate them up. The 2 youngest complained of the seeds, but everybody loved the flavor. Last summer Lynn made some jam, and I made a pie. Otherwise, it was just pick and pop them in your mouth.
This past winter I looked at the vines, all going this way and that, and thought, boy, you need a haircut! But I don’t know the first thing about that. Through the video Biodynamic Vineyard I was able to connect with someone whose life grew up around grape vines, Lon Rombough.
I shouldn’t stop with just grape vines, though, for he has an affinity with all plants. His yard is also full of fruit trees, each with story of how it came to be. One in particular caught my eye. It is an apple tree near his house, but it is no ordinary apple tree. It was 4 varieties growing and producing from one trunk! Ah, the magic of grafting.
I learned a lot about grapes that day with Lon. I learned a lot about other plants too. In fact, several weeks later I actually had the nerve and, more importantly, an idea of how to prune that grapevine-gone-wild in my backyard. It is now all ready to produce more awesome grapes this season.
Oh, I had a big surprise too. Turns out I had two vines, not just one, under all those tangled canes. It was a ‘grape’ surprise.
—Rebecca
