Our first Camping with a Purpose trip was to Geneva State Park in Geneva, Ohio. What an amazing place. Lake Erie is just beautiful. They have a really nice bike trail that takes you along the lake and into the little town of Geneva-on-The-Lake. This little town has a beautiful view of the lake and a great “beachy” vibe. We were there just as the season had closed up for the year, but we could tell this was a great place to come during the summer months, so much to see and do. Lots of food options and don’t forget the wineries and ice cream shops.
Grabelsek Vineyard
We went to Geneva with the intent to pick concord grapes to preserve. This led us to Grabelsek Vineyard. They are a family-owned vineyard that has been operating in their family since the late 30’s early 40’s. The owners were welcoming and the vineyard just gorgeous.
During our camping with a purpose visit, we picked 67lbs of concord grapes and strolled the rows and rows of vines. We brought our own boxes to carry the grapes in. These were weighed prior to us filling them, so you don’t pay for the weight of the boxes or whatever you may bring to pick in. They provide wagons to pull your bounty in and clippers but recommend that you bring your own clippers if you think they will be busy. This will prevent you having to wait on someone to bring a pair back for you to use because their supply is limited.
Once you have picked your fill, you wheel your wagon up to the stand where they weigh your grapes in. This year the grapes were .40 a pound which is really good. Our total for 67lbs was $26.00. They also sell concord grapes and niagra grapes already picked if you would rather skip the trek, but I would say you are missing out on the best part.
Processing the Grapes
With all the grapes that we picked we have made concord grape juice, grape jelly, and grape jam. I even froze some grapes to use in drinks instead of plain ice cubes. This took us approximately 3 days to complete. I used half gallon jars, quarts, 12oz jars, and half pint jars.
Juice
The first project was grape juice. This was done in two separate days but moving forward, I will try to process all the juice in one day. It is a lot of work to do two times. I think it will be easier to get it all done at the same time. You can find the recipe for the grape juice here concord grape juice. I’d like to note that I use cane sugar for all of these recipes, and everything had a great flavor. I know some people say that cane sugar gives food a different taste, but I truly couldn’t tell any difference.
We ended up with seven half gallons and eleven quarts (I believe that number is correct). This is a concentrate, so the half gallon jars will make a gallon of grape juice, and each quart will then make a two-quart batch of juice as well.
Jam
On day two, we started the jam making process. I have never made grape jam, so this was a new recipe for me. I found the recipe in the Balls blue book, Guide to Preserving. The process is a little time consuming but well worth the effort. The flavor and that added texture is a nice change from your average jelly. We ended up making two batches, again I will definitely do this in one batch next time. I didn’t know if I would like the jam and I was concerned about the jelling as well. This is by far my favorite as far as jelly vs jam for grapes. This jam definitely jelled nicely and holds up on toast or bagels. Check out the recipe and give this one a try, you won’t be disappointed.
Jelly
The last day of processing was jelly. This was an easy day because I had already prepared juice on day one just for the jelly making. This recipe calls for grape juice making this canning recipe easy. As I was processing juice the first day, I saved 2 quarts of unsweetened juice just for the jelly. I saved this preservation method for the last day because it was the easiest and I knew I would be tired and ready to be done with the grape processing. You can also find this recipe here and I hope you will give this very easy recipe a try as well. There is nothing like homemade, fresh jams, jellies, and juice. The flavor is just more intense.
This was our very first trip with the intent to preserve and patronize our local farms, vineyards, and orchards through Purposefully Camping. I know there will be many more camping with a purpose trips to come and I am excited to see where this new avenue of thinking and preserving will take us and hopefully lead us to a more self-sufficient, simple living lifestyle.
I hope you found something in this article useful. If so leave me a comment and Happy Planting!
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