Grapes

If someone had told me, twenty-some years ago, that I could plant, grow and harvest grapes in Cheyenne, I would have doubted anything else that person ever told me. However, the climate has changed here and we found a hardy variety that not only grows, but thrives!

We got the plants from Wyoming Plant Company (see side bar) and they stock plants hardy to the high plains.

 
First, we built a trellis over our garden gate.

We planted a grape plant on either side of the trellis. The first two years, as with any perennial, were slow, but then the grape plants took off.

It is one of the more exciting bits in the garden to see the little grape clusters get larger each week. They start off green and tiny, then get bigger as the summer goes on. By late August, I go out and stand under the grape arbor and pretend I’m in Tuscany. It almost works.

Grapes are ready to harvest around the first part of September. The picture above was taken about mid- August, so you can see they aren't quite ready. These aren’t sweet eating grapes – they are for juice or jelly. When I harvest them, I cut off each cluster with a pair of pruning shears. I got about 16 pounds of the little jewels this year.

I dump them in the sink, wash them, then put them in a large kettle. I add enough water to almost cover them and bring the water to a boil. I simmer everything until the grapes lose their color and are very soft. I keep mashing them with a potato masher every so often during the cooking.

Remove from heat and put them in a colander. I mash the pulp through the colander, then strain through a finer sieve. At this point, you can pour the juice in a freezer Ziploc bag and freeze it for when you have time to make juice or jelly, or you can make jelly that day. I’ll do a jelly blog later.

In March or early April, grape vines need pruned. These are aggressive plants, so you can prune back the old growth. Don’t prune the newer growth because that’s where the new grapes will grow. I do, however, prune off the ends of the vines – they have decided to grow up into the green ash that is close to the fence and it just looks odd to have a grape vine in a tree.

We love our grape arbor so much, that we built a new one. In March, I’ll get some cuttings off the old grape plants and get another arbor started. In a few years, I can pretend I’m in Tuscany in two places in the yard!