Using excess grapes

We bought land 2 years ago which has a very large grape arbor. The grapes were beautiful last year and very covered. When I tried one I was shocked to find they were wine grapes. The fruit under the skin was a pale pink and the taste was very sweet and distinctive. I put up some juice the old way. A cup of grapes and half a cup of sugar in a pint jar processed for a few minutes. But sad to say I lost 99 percent of the grapes and had to watch them rot. Is there a simple way to make wine? No fancy methods just an easy way. They are covered again this year.

Janice Dereske
Howell, Michigan

Sorry, but we don’t use alcohol so I’ve never made wine. But I’m sure some of our readers do and can give you some tips. But like canning, there isn’t a quick and easy way to make wine — just best ways. Can you readers help out Janice? — Jackie

Sunroom garden

Because we have both limited outdoor growing space and a large deer population, we have decided to try growing vegetables in our sunroom. So far the tomatoes, carrots, beans, lettuce, and peppers are doing fairly well. The lettuce is a bit “leggy,” but is growing, and we have some little tomatoes. The problem is that we have an infestation of gnats! We do not want to use chemicals on the plants, but have had no luck getting rid of the gnats with insecticidal soap or pyrethrum. Also, the Safer pyrethrum spray burned the leaves on the green beans. Do you have any suggestions of how to get rid of the gnats without damaging the vegetables?

Pat Moffett
Port Angeles, Washington

Unfortunately, growing vegetables inside does often mean doing battle with gnats and aphids as there usually aren’t any helpful predators present. We had that problem and I found that using Spinosad worked great. You can often find the brand Captain Jack’s Dead Bug Brew in larger stores. It is a safe organic spray that only kills bugs, not you, your family or pets. And I haven’t had any leaf damage to plants either. — Jackie

7 COMMENTS

  1. To help with the plants getting leggy, put a fan in the room. May be too late for this crop but I found that having to grow in a breeze 1) causes them to grow stronger stalks and 2) that seems to slow down the upward growth.

  2. We have a very simple poison free solution . We have a outdoor UV Bug wacker in a corner of the kitchen at the back entry . It sits on a cabinet ‘table top” and I have a collection pan beneath it with aluminum sheet reflectors around it in the corner . It stays on all the time . All through the day and especially at night the kitchen and rest of the house by proxy are cleared of all kinds of flying insects . Sometimes there is a bit of STAR WARS and the slight smell of Apocalypse but only in passing . We also use a small night light near the floor to catch fleas and other critters . Jackie I’ll be happy to send pictures .

  3. I have had great luck using apple cider vinegar to get rid of fruit flies. I put about one and a half inches of the cider vinegar in small juice glasses. Drop a couple of drops of liquid dish detergent in each glass and stir. Put these glasses around the house where you see the fruit flies. I just add more vinegar to the glasses as it evaporates and it seems to draw even more of them to their death.

  4. When I have fruit flies in the kitchen or a bit of undetected produce stored outside the refrigerator, I have gone almost crazy trying to figure out how to get rid of them without using toxic anything. I found two things that help. A flystrip hanging near a window and the vacuum cleaner. These two things alone are my best bets. Of course, I try to eliminate what they love. I bet that the flystrip and vacuum would work to help control the gnats. The flystrips could be hung amongst the plants or just laid out on paper on top of the soil.

  5. I have a stainless steel steamer that I use to make grape juice and it is very easy. You put the grapes in the top compartment. The middle compartment holds the juice from the grapes as the steam rises up and causes the grapes to release their juice. The bottom compartment holds the water. You put this on the stove and heat up the water which steams up and the process starts. I have had this for probably 30 years and made grape juice a number of times. It is very good. It also has a hole with a tube attached to it to drain out the juice into the quart jars. Its very easy. All you have to do is wash the grapes and put them in the top compartment and turn on the stove.

  6. We made dandelion wine as a kid, this website brought back everything we enjoyed about making it. Thanks Laura!

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