We harvested the grapes before the raccoons and birds got to them this year. After picking two buckets full of grapes, washing them and having the kids clean them, we had enough to make two batches (8 pints) of grape jelly.
The kids are now set with enough grape jelly to get them through the rest of the school year with PB & J sandwiches in their lunch boxes.
Week 40 Theme ~ Vintage
My siblings and I (along with our spouses and kids) recently spent a day out at my parents’ farm helping them with cleaning and other projects around the yard and house. While working out in the garage, I came upon three vintage bottles. The one in the picture below is an old quart milk bottle from the DMDA – Duluth Minnesota Dairy Association. My Dad was a dairy farmer just about his entire life – helping his grandparents on their farm when he was just a kid, then buying his own dairy farm after he married my Mom in 1954. The bottle was absolutely filthy from many decades of sitting out in the garage, but it cleaned up nicely and is now proudly displayed at my house on a kitchen shelf. It will always serve as a reminder of the hard work my Dad put into the farm for the many years before I was born until he retired from dairy farming when he turned 60 – the year I graduated from high school. He continued to have beef animals for the next 20 years, but sold the last one shortly before he turned 80 when he officially retired from farming.
p.s. I did get permission from my Dad to take it…just in case anyone was wondering.
We had some unseasonably warm temperatures this past weekend. We also had two days that were not filled with running to practices, games and errands. We were able to hang out and work on yard projects and enjoy the last bits of sun and warmth before the true Minnesota autumn sets in.
M. Sullivan Photography 