Well, I have to say I never thought I’d be telling the kids to put their shoes on so that we could go and pick some grapes, from our own garden!
But, yesterday afternoon, that’s just what I did…
We’d had a few off days with both boys sick, one after the other, and me not feeling fabulous either. We had spent a lot of time cuddled on the sofa watching movies and, lovely though that was, we all needed some fresh air.
I knew that the grapes were ripe, so it was time we picked some of them…
Off we set, armed with a big bowl and scissors…
We found a good spot on one of the vines and made a start…
The 8yo got to work…
Everyone helped gather them together…
We then took a walk through the garden to see if we could find any more…
Having picked all we could reach, we need daddy to get the bunches that are hanging higher up (and there are a lot of them!), we returned to the house with our stash, and of course had to sample one or two :)
We had a lovely time pottering around the garden; the grapes were the focus, but we looked to see how other plants were getting on, checked out any new flowers (not as many now that Fall is knocking on the door), had a look at how the various berry plants are doing (the boys love seeing how the berries keep changing colour).
We all needed the fresh air, and it’s always fun to have an activity to focus on; and picking grapes is certainly a new one for us…
The wee girl is convinced that they are blueberries, the boys were not impressed with the fact that they had seeds, all of them got a real kick out of picking fruit in our own garden.
Now I just need to work out what to do with them; grape jam/jelly perhaps; but first my husband needs to pick the rest of them for us :)
I’m linking up with the wonderful Country Kids at Coombe Mill, as always. Click on the badge to see what everyone else has been up to and be inspired to get outside!
Oh how lovely to pick grapes in your new garden. Looks like everyone had fun too. Grape jam sounds delicious. My MIL grows grapes and makes wine with them (better for cooking than drinking though) and I used to tread the grapes for her as my feet were small enough to fit in the washing up bowl :-)
I definitely need to do some research and work out what type of grapes they are so that I can find a suitable recipe to use them, there are still a lot to pick :)
How fabulous to have them in your own back garden -I do wonder what other delights you’ll find out there over the next few months! Lovely idea to get out and get a bit of fresh air, too x
I know, every time we go out there I seem to find something new :)
Grapes in your garden. That is great. I tried to grow some to use the leaves in cooking but the whole vine died as I’m not very green fingered. X
I am not at all green fingered either, thankfully our new garden has lots of mature plants – I can’t do them too much harm :)
How fantastic to have all of this on your doorstep, quite literally Sara! What a lot of fun. We’re all suffering from colds and feeling yucky at the moment so I totally know where you’re coming from there. can I put in a vote for wine making?!
I definitely need to work out what variety they are to see what’s best to do with them :)
Grapes in to wine! LOL. Kids love fruit picking don’t they? I need to find something near us for my 2. It’s the blackberries that we’re picking just now from the bushes around us.
They really do! All the small creatures that live in our garden ate most of our blackberries!
Wow Sara you are so lucky having grapes in the garden. there would be no deciding what to do with them here my kids would scoff them all, we did just this in France. Lovely photos and glad they were well enough to enjoy the garden. thank you for sharing with me on Country Kids
We were pretty excited when we found them :) I could see that the birds were starting to eat them (my desk overlooks the two main vines!), so it was definitely time to get picking!
Your garden is like a treasure chest! Lovely lovely photos of fun right in your own garden.
It really is! Every time we explore we find something new :)
Wow, makes a difference to apples or plums. Grape jelly could be lovely.
Great pic of your daughter at the end – she looks absolutely stuffed!
Thank you Emma, I think I might well give grape jelly a go :)
That’s a dream for me! To picky some grapes from my own garden… sadly, it’s going to be but a dream for me. Love the photos! And the grapes look yum ;) #countrykids.
It is quite dream like, not something I ever expected to be doing :)
Oh wow I didn’t know you could have grapes trees in your garden, its all apples and plums here isn’t it? They look so nice too!
It was a little unexpected, but I have since discovered that they’re quite common here!
How wonderful to be able to grow grapes! My parents used to grow some in their porch, but nothing like your harvest #CountryKids
These are very well established vines, and they seem to be taking over a bit… I suspect that we might have to get rid of some of them :)
Wow thats so awesome! Grapes readily available in your garden! #countrykids
Thanks, I think it’s pretty awesome too :)
Congratulations! I’ve never been able to really get my garden (when I lived in Canada) to produce anything, let alone a bowl full of grapes. Now i really long to have more of a connection with nature. You did just remind me that I should call the local farmers to see if they will let me come and pick grapes.
Beautiful pictures and it looks like you had a lovely day.
Thank you, I don’t have green fingers at all, I’m just hoping that I can’t do too much damage to all the mature plants in our new garden :)
Oh my goodness, what a haul – and all from your own garden too! You’re going to be busy with that lot, but every time you have grape jelly on toast you’ll have such happy memories from picking them all together! #countrykids
You are absolutely right, now I just need to pick them rest of them and find a recipe :)
How wonderful being able to pick grapes. Amazing experience. I think they get so much out of getting the fruit from the trees and it makes children want to eat more fruit if they have got it for themselves.
A lovely adventure for the children.
Wow – I’m so used to grapes in the UK usually being ornamental, the idea of being able to pick the sort you actually eat is rather amazing!!
What a lovely time to share together – and even better when it’s just outside your back door! Gorgeous pictures. Hope you enjoy the jelly/jam making x
Wow what a great thing to be able to do in your garden! I think I would be making wine not jam :D