Save a Little Green! Eat What's in Season: September

I try to feature this list at the beginning of each month, to excite you to the coming month's vegetable & fruit bounty! Now's the time for wine making--(later Sept & fall)! Enjoying those delicious heirloom tomatoes with a little balsamic vinegar or for canning.

September:
grapes, pomegranates, persimmons, eggplants, pumpkins, tomatoes, spinach, lettuce
I am including a recipe for home made grape juice. This is simple, and delicious! Your kids or guests will love it too!

Home-Made Grape Juice:

This recipe calls for concord grapes, but you could probably use any that you have growing. Concords are ripe late September, early October. When gathering the grapes off of the vines, bring a large basket and clippers. Keep in mind a pound of grapes will yield less than a cup of juice.

Ingredients/equipment:

a colander
1 large 12 qt pot
1 large 6 or 8 qt pot
a very fine mesh sieve

How to

1. Wash and de-stem the grapes. Put the grapes in a basin, wash and de-stem each grape. Remove any unripened or shriveled grapes from the bunch.

2. Mash. With a potato masher, mash the grapes in the bowl until the juices are flowing. If you have a lot of grapes, then mash them in batches of about 4 lbs.

3. Cook the grapes. In a large stock pot slowly bring to a simmer on med-heat for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom. Halfway through the cooking process, mash some more to break up any of the remaining grapes.

4. Prepare sieve. Get another large pot, and place a large fine mesh sieve over it.

5. Ladle the grape mixture into the sieve. Let sit for several hours or in the refrigerator overnight to drain completely.

6. Last step! Discard strained grapes (you can compost these) and rinse out the sieve in the sink. Re-run the juice through the sieve one more time to remove any sediments, etc. Refrigerate and enjoy your juice! Or you can freeze it to make Popsicles! Yum!