It's wild harvest time!

We harvested some Kentucky coffee beans yesterday, I'm sipping my first cup of "coffee" from them now. It's a bit nutty with hints of squash. I don't think I'll be drinking much of it straight, but it will do well to stretch my coffee rations out.

So I should let them keep growing then until we get a freeze, Martin? I've got them all over the place and wasn't sure when to pick them.

O.K., so I guess it's a regional thing 'cause what you are describing is exactly what we just call possum grapes(whether it's the correct name or not). And yes I have killed a lot of coon and squirrel off these grapes!
What we call fox grapes down here are grapes that are hardly noticeably smaller than concord,have a slightly more red color when ripe,with similar flavor. These grapes ripen in aug. as our concord do. Actually the concord is a week or so later that these wild grapes.They are prized around here because for some reason they don't seem to have near the insect damage of concord. They will only grow on a wood edge. If you get 20 yards into the woods you run out of grapes. They grow from the ground with multiple sprouts. Sometimes 15-20 growing iout of the same root and maintained in a 12-15 inch circle.Each sprout may grow 50 feet long horizontally but rarely climb more than 20 feet high.That's about all I know about them except they sure taste good!

As mentioned, it takes a lot of possum grapes to amount to anything. I usually only make on picking per year and I make grape dumplins with them. I start off by freezing the grapes for about 24 hours or so, and then I'll cook them with sugar to make it syrupy. Then I drain them through a fine mesh strainner to remove the seeds and skin. I'll use a bit of the berry liquid to make the dough with. Then whats left of the liquid I'll cook down more while I make small dumpins out of the dough. Then add the dough back into the liquid and cook for a few minutes. Talk about delicious! Mmmmm!

Yep, they're only about the size of a green pea and are very dark purple in color. They most usually have 2 seeds and are very toughed skinned. It takes a bunch of them and its hard to find a vine low enough to pick as most will be all the way to the top of the trees. I lucked out as I have a vine that growed up by the yard fence and traveled about 30 ft. down the fence before it finally turns up and into a mulberry tree. There's plenty to pick off the fence and with a ladder I can reach the lower clusters off the mulberry tree.

Yep, that's it. They grow wild everywhere here in my neck of the woods.

Not so good out in the woods, but I didn't hunt too far and didn't stay out too long. Sun came out and it started getting hot. Saw four tails dissappearing into the thicker woods at one time, but didn't see anymore after that. I should have taken my .22 as I seen plenty of squirrels. And I only found one small snowball mushroom. Decided to let it grow more.

But did start picking walnuts up out of my yard. It was getting hard to walk across the yard without stumbling over them. Look like a drunk man trying to walk through there! Also, picked up a walmart plastic sack full of hickory nuts. But didn't get too much picked up before some people called me to come help them solve there water well problems. By the time I got back it was time to start cooking supper for me and the kids.

Tomorrow morning I need to replace the guts in my toilet. Hopefully it will go quick and I can go harvest the possum grapes that need picking.

__________________
r.h. in oklahoma

Raised a country boy, and will die a country boy.

I want to know where I should go look for wild tree nuts or anything else that might grow wild around here!

They are always sweeter after a good hard frost and keep getting sweeter the longer they hang. They start shrinking and the sugars concentrate. Problem is that the more they shrink the less juice they have.

Martin

In the woods, of course!

Martin

We've got a bumper crop of honey mushrooms this fall. A friend gave me some so I tried one last night fried in butter. I think it needed different flavorings.

A few hours later I thought my tongue felt funny and I started to salivate so I probably won't be eating any more. I feel fine now.

__________________
"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

John,I've never heard of honey mushrooms. Got a pix of them?
Wade

Odd year on our property this year. The usually heavy persimmon didn't give much fruit and is almost done, but I just found another tree that is loaded and just beginning to drop fruit. The walnuts are abundant (which is the case across our area), while last year there were almost none. Some of the red oaks and sawtooth oaks are loaded with acorns (for the pigs), while the largest trees are relatively bare. Not much of a hickory year it seems. The prickly pear cactus are normal in their abundance of fruit. Have not seen many mushrooms at all.

For those with black walnuts, how do you crack them open?

i don't think rabbits are good yet this time of year, but otherwise lots of good forage

__________________
Brenda Groth
http://restfultrailsfoodforestgarden.blogspot.com/

I haven't heard of those before, what are they?

Plendiful- I 've seen ky coffee bean all my life but never knew anyone that actually makes coffee from them!Would you mind sharing the "how-to's" with us? I'd like to try that.Thanks,Wade

Here ya go. http://honest-food.net/2010/12/27/ho...n-and-pierogi/

__________________
"Do you believe in the devil? You know, a supreme evil being dedicated to the temptation, corruption, and destruction of man?" Hobbs
"I'm not sure that man needs the help." Calvin

Start by driving the back roads where ever there are lots of trees that you can legally access. Just drive slowly enough that you can spot the trees themselves or fallen nuts on the road. I have asked people if I could pick up nuts from their yards. I talk to very few people who bother to harvest and use the nuts. It is a lot of work to pick them out of the shells.

I crack the nuts in a vise then pick them out with a metal nut pick. I throw a cloth over the vise while breaking the nuts because the shell can fly up and hit you in the face.

Also, walk up and down creek and river banks. You can find lots of stuff to harvest. Nuts, fruits, berries, gourds, feathers, etc.

__________________
r.h. in oklahoma

Raised a country boy, and will die a country boy.

We picked the pods from a tree near by, took the seeds from the pods, and roasted them on a cookie sheet for 5 hours at 300 F. DH then ground them in our ninja for a quick break down, and then in the coffee grinder to get the correct grind size. Here are pics of the pod/bean and the beans after 3 hours of roasting.

Attached Thumbnails

   

Fishhead-That's a new mushroom for me. I'll have to pay attention when I'm out from now on!Thanks!

Plentiful- Thanks for the pix and info. Next time I find a tree I'll be trying it. Wade

Good luck! After experimenting, I find that I like it at a 3:1 ratio of Coffee:Kaffee. It's definitely worth trying plain though. DH likes it that way, with a bit of creamer he says it reminds him of chai

Easy way to crack black walnuts is to use a vise to split the nut. Once it is split use a pair of wire cutters to cut shell you will get a higher percentage of whole nuts this way. Black walnut tutorial http://tomclothier.hort.net/page21.html

Mike