wild grapes

[asakiyume]

Went to my one of my favorite spots for picking wild grapes, the place where the grape vines are draped over the abandoned crates of greenhouse glass:



glass so long abandoned, lichens are growing on it:



Grapes and rust, grapes and blossoming mugwort:



Don't say it's not your fault, don't say you're not the enemy

Comments

[queenoftheskies.livejournal.com]

What do wild grapes taste like (compared to domesticated grapes)?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Much more sour! And they're very tiny. But they make a delicious jelly (and I actually like sometimes just eating them, even though they're sour)

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Forgotten grapevines! Kind of intriguing. (And those grapes look delicious)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I like to think of them as opportunistic grapevines, trellising themselves over these abandoned crates--I like to think of the crates as forgotten but the vines as never even known (except by me and my friends)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Do you know the story behind the abandoned glass? I would have thought that it would have been expensive enough that someone would find a use for it.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

There is a greenhouse associated with this complex of no-longer-used (and decaying) buildings, and I imagine it was to replace panes in it.

Nowadays that style of greenhouse, with actual panes of glass, aren't used really any more--not that I see, anyway. It seems to be all temporary greenhouses, made with easily assembled lightweight metal frames and translucent plastic stretched over the frame. Not only can the whole thing be put up and taken down with ease, but the plastic can be rolled up when the weather gets warm, leaving the interior open to breeze and interrupting the … greenhouse effect. And these frames can even withstand a snowy winter. I guess the plastic is vulnerable to tearing, but it's not as heavy or as breakable as the glass--so all in all, I can understand people moving away from the traditional wood-and-glass greenhouse.

All the same, I too would think that the glass would have been valuable enough to be salvaged--much of it is still unbroken. I can't believe that the people who are caretaking this area don't know about it--in fact, I'm almost certain they do know about it. So it's all a mystery, really.

[coldhighmountainwind.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com)]

I wonder if they would make tasty raisins ?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I've eaten them in raisin form! They are very flavorful and rather nice. Tart, though.

[syomsong.livejournal.com]

This made me think of the documentary by Agnés Varda "The Gleaners and I"...

http://youtu.be/Jn8nHJTb_LY

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

That was a thought-provoking short film. What appears to us as art today was a product of hardship back in the day. . . . I feel very aware that my gathering is for pleasure and not necessity.

[littlemoremasks.livejournal.com]

Today we visited the children's godmother. Just as we were leavign the pool that is shared by the folkd that live on her road, the wife found a huge (I mean seriously huge) growth of grapes. We were all excited, but they were too sour for godmother to eat. She thought we were kind of pulling her leg, but the wife harvested a huge bundle to take home with her. I think she may be planning a midnight raid later this week.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Jelly time!