North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[list@ginda.us]

Well, we went away and about half were still green, so I picked half  
the clusters and left the other clusters on the vine.  We ate most of  
the redder grapes that had been picked and left the stems with the  
green grapes in a bowl on the table.  When we returned, the green  
grapes on the table had turned red (but were not at all sweet) and  
everything on the vine had been stripped by birds.

The grapes that we ate before we left were pleasant enough, but the  
flavor was very mild.  Is that typical of Canadice, or did we eat  
them under-riipe?

Sigh. . .  I have two one-week vacations, and one seems to hit the  
grapes, the other the apricots.  It's very hard to learn ripening  
dates to the week from descriptions. . .  At least the raspberries  
are perfectly timed.  The fall crop has just barely begun, and I'll  
be around to pick most of it.

Has anyone bagged grapes?  I wonder if wrapping an opaque plastic bag  
around the cluster would discourage pests?  Would it inhibit ripening?

thanks,
Ginda
eastern Mass., zone 6

On Aug 16, 2006, at 11:51 PM, list@ginda.us wrote:

> This is a really dumb question, but how do I tell when my seedless
> canadice grapes are ripe?  They have started to turn color, and are
> getting sweet.  But I like tart fruit, and might well enjoy them
> before they are fully ripe.  They are seedless, so I can't evaluat
> the maturity of the seeds.  I planted the vine "blind", having never
> tasted the grape.
>
> I am going away for a week soon, and want to pick as many as
> reasonable to discourage pests (birds, squirrels, etc.) from learning
> about them.  But I'd rather not pick all of them under-ripe, either.
>
> Thanks,
> Ginda