Organic Gardening provides this great article with 14 tips on how to start your own seeds.
Ensure that your plants are organic from start to finish by starting your own seeds.
Start your own seeds and you can be sure that your plants have been raised organically from first to last. And by sprouting and nursing your own seedlings, you don't have to wait for warm weather to get your hands dirty. Best of all, starting your own seeds is easy and fun. Here's how to get started now:
Place sure bets
Some plants lend themselves to home germination better than others. Surefire vegetables include basil, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chives, leeks, lettuce, onions, peppers, and tomatoes. Some reliable annual flowers are alyssum, cosmos, marigolds, and zinnias. Perennials include Shasta daisies, columbines, and hollyhocks.
Get the timing down
To calculate when to sow your seeds, go to our seed-starting chart, print it out and then fill in the blanks. Then you will have a planting plan you can follow through the season.
Gather containers
Reuse last year's nursery flats if you have some around. Otherwise, any container 2 or 3 inches deep will do. Punch holes for drainage into the bottom of containers and set them into trays. Protect against plant disease by thoroughly cleaning all used containers: Wash them in hot, soapy water, and rinse with a dilute solution of household bleach and water. If you want a less-irritating substitute for the bleach, use distilled white vinegar.
Pick the right growing medium You can buy bags of seed-starter mix or you can make your own seed-starting mix by blending equal parts of perlite, vermiculite, and peat. Add 1/4 teaspoon of lime to each gallon of mix to neutralize the acidity of the peat. You'll eventually want to repot most of your seedlings into larger containers before setting them into the garden. But lettuce, melons, and cucumbers are finicky about being transplanted and should go directly from the original containers into the garden. When starting these fussier plants, always add two parts well-aged, screened compost to your mix to give them a healthy beginning.
Sow carefully
Moisten your medium in the containers before sowing the seeds. Next, drop seeds onto the surface of the mix, spacing them as evenly as possible. Cover the seeds to a depth about three times the thickness of the seeds. Some seeds, such as ageratum, alyssum, impatiens, petunias, and snapdragons, should not be covered at all because they need light in order to germinate.
Top it off
Lightly sprinkle milled sphagnum moss, a natural fungicide, over everything to protect against damping-off, a fungal disease that rots seeds and seedlings. In the case of seeds that need light to germinate, sprinkle the moss first and then drop the seeds onto the moss.
Keep seeds cozy
Cover the flats with plastic wrap or glass to keep the environment humid and place them near a heat vent or on a heat mat made especially for seed starting. Most seeds germinate well at about 70 degrees F.
Keep them damp
Mist with a spray bottle or set the trays into water so the mix wicks up the moisture from below.
Lighten up
At the first signs of sprouting, uncover and move the containers to a bright spot—a sunny window, a greenhouse, or beneath a couple of ordinary fluorescent shop lights (4-footers with two 40-watt bulbs). The lights are worthwhile, especially if you live in the North. They provide a steady source of high-intensity light. Short days restrict window light, and your seedlings need 12 to 16 hours of light a day. Suspend the lights just 2 inches above the plants and gradually raise them as the seedlings mature. If plants have to stretch or lean toward the light, they can become weak and spindly. To turn the lights on and off at the same time each day, hook them up to an electric timer.
Cool down Seedlings don't have to stay as warm as germinating seeds. Move them away from radiators and air vents, or off the heating mat, as soon they have germinated.
Feed them
If youre using a soilless mix without compost, begin to fertilize your seedlings as soon as they get their first true leaves. (These leaves emerge after the little, round cotyledon leaves.) Water with a half-strength solution of liquid fish/seaweed fertilizer every week or two. Use either a spray bottle or add the fertilizer to the water you set the trays in if you're using the wick-up method described above.
Give them room
If the seedlings outgrow their containers or crowd one another, repot them into larger containers filled with a mix that includes compost. Extract the seedlings with a narrow fork or flat stick, and handle by their leaves and roots to avoid damaging the fragile stems. Tuck the seedlings gently into the new pots, and water them to settle the roots.
Pet them
Lightly ruffling seedlings once or twice a day with your hand or a piece of cardboard helps them to grow stocky and strong. Or, set up a small fan to gently, continuously blow on your seedlings.
Toughen them up
About 1 week before the plants are to go outside, start acclimating them to the harsh conditions of the big world. Gardeners call this hardening off. On a warm spring day move the containers to a shaded, protected place, such as a porch, for a few hours. Each day—unless the weather is horrible—gradually increase the plants exposure to sun and breeze. At the end of the week leave them out overnight; then transplant them into the garden.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Perennial Garlic
If you love garlic, here is a good tip on how to plant it once and have it grow, over and over again.
I love these garlic growing tips from the Centerfordeepecology.org. Literally, plant garlic once and harvest it over and over again.
There’s a way to grow garlic without replanting each year. A Washington gardener explains how.
Joe Capriotti doesn’t plant garlic, but every year he harvests hundreds of pounds from his backyard in Montesano, Wash. His technique goes against the common practice of planting and harvesting garlic each year as if it were an annual plant. Most people don’t realize that garlic can be grown as a perennial.
Capriotti, who once worked as a chef and as a logger in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, developed his technique over many years of experimenting on his 1-acre homestead. Now, at 80, he proudly displays the fruits of his research. When I visited his place in western Washington, I found Capriotti to be an active man with a sharp wit and a delightful sense of humor. His other experiments have ranged from testing apple, peach, plum and pear varieties to new techniques for growing strawberries and potatoes. But his real love is garlic.
“This patch of elephant garlic hasn’t been planted or plowed for more than 20 years,” Capriotti says, leading me to a 25-by-40-foot area where healthy garlic tops of various sizes grow without apparent order. “When the plants are about 2 feet tall, seed buds will form. Be sure to pinch off the buds or you won’t get any garlic. The large plants will form cloves. The other, smaller plants will die back, but will come up again the following year. Did you ever dig clams? Well, the small holes the young garlic tops leave after they die back look like little clam holes all over the soil."
In August Capriotti pulls up the largest plants that have been pinched. “I just pull ‘em out of the ground by hand or use a garden trowel if they won’t come,” he says. “I have never weighed how many pounds have come out of this bed, but it’s 200 pounds or more.” Capriotti also inter-plants garlic with berries and young fruit trees. Volunteers may be found almost anywhere in the garden.
After harvesting, Capriotti uses a hand-push cultivator to lightly till the surface and uproot weeds that are already growing. He waters the bed to cause the weed seeds to germinate, then cultivates the surface to eliminate those young weeds. In September the area looks bare and abandoned. “My neighbors used to look at it and ask, ‘Hey Joe, aren’t you going to plant garlic this year?’ “ he says. “ ‘No,’ I’d answer, ‘I never plant garlic. It’s already in there.’
In October, Capriotti spreads a 3- to 4-inch mulch of cherry and apple leaves. The mulch keeps any more weeds from sprouting and would prevent the garlic from coming up, too, if it weren’t for the timely arrival of the wood thrush, or winter robin, from the local forest. These birds, which move to the open lowlands with the first cold weather, eat insects that live under the leaves. They turn the mulch, disturbing it enough for the garlic to sprout through. Last year, for some reason, not many thrushes came, but robins took over and did the job nearly as well. Capriotti has built bird boxes all around his house and watering ponds nearby to attract birds of all kinds. Besides turning the garlic mulch, the thrushes, robins and warblers effectively control insects throughout the garden.
By spring most of the mulch is gone. Night crawlers and microorganisms have turned it into rich compost. “Don’t dig manure into the soil when you start the bed, Capriotti suggests. “I tried that one year when I was trying to get huge cloves just for show. The plants grew big enough, but they were only the leaves—no cloves. If you want to fertilize, spread 1 inch of well-rotted manure on top of the ground. After a patch has had no fertilizer for many years, it is necessary to do this. By not plowing, and by spreading a little manure once in a while and a mulch of leaves every fall, I get elephant garlic bulbs of all sizes — some weigh over 1 pound. The shopkeepers I sell to don’t like it when they get that big. It’s too weird — the customers have never seen anything like it.”
Garlic likes full sun and grows well in most soil conditions, but the soil should not be too heavy and it must have good drainage. “Garlic hates to have its feet wet and will rot in boggy areas,” Capriotti says. “Don’t water in the summer, especially with an overhead sprinkler. I don’t even sprinkle my strawberries or raspberries nearby because I’m afraid some of the water might get on the garlic. If it rains heavily after the Fourth of July, it rots some of the plants and you get a lot of culls. I replant the culls later in areas that look kind of sparse.”
This way of growing garlic has emerged from a lifetime of living and working close to nature. It requires no machinery or chemicals — only a hand cultivator and a garden trowel. “You have to have the right soil conditions,” Capriotti says, “and you have to be aware of everything going on in the garden.” The technique is simple yet sophisticated, and closely follows the natural cycle of garlic, a perennial plant. Capriotti is proud of his way with garlic and loves to remind his many visitors, “I don’t plant garlic — I only harvest it.”
Organic Gardening, April 1987
I love these garlic growing tips from the Centerfordeepecology.org. Literally, plant garlic once and harvest it over and over again.
There’s a way to grow garlic without replanting each year. A Washington gardener explains how.
Joe Capriotti doesn’t plant garlic, but every year he harvests hundreds of pounds from his backyard in Montesano, Wash. His technique goes against the common practice of planting and harvesting garlic each year as if it were an annual plant. Most people don’t realize that garlic can be grown as a perennial.
Capriotti, who once worked as a chef and as a logger in the forests of the Pacific Northwest, developed his technique over many years of experimenting on his 1-acre homestead. Now, at 80, he proudly displays the fruits of his research. When I visited his place in western Washington, I found Capriotti to be an active man with a sharp wit and a delightful sense of humor. His other experiments have ranged from testing apple, peach, plum and pear varieties to new techniques for growing strawberries and potatoes. But his real love is garlic.
“This patch of elephant garlic hasn’t been planted or plowed for more than 20 years,” Capriotti says, leading me to a 25-by-40-foot area where healthy garlic tops of various sizes grow without apparent order. “When the plants are about 2 feet tall, seed buds will form. Be sure to pinch off the buds or you won’t get any garlic. The large plants will form cloves. The other, smaller plants will die back, but will come up again the following year. Did you ever dig clams? Well, the small holes the young garlic tops leave after they die back look like little clam holes all over the soil."
In August Capriotti pulls up the largest plants that have been pinched. “I just pull ‘em out of the ground by hand or use a garden trowel if they won’t come,” he says. “I have never weighed how many pounds have come out of this bed, but it’s 200 pounds or more.” Capriotti also inter-plants garlic with berries and young fruit trees. Volunteers may be found almost anywhere in the garden.
After harvesting, Capriotti uses a hand-push cultivator to lightly till the surface and uproot weeds that are already growing. He waters the bed to cause the weed seeds to germinate, then cultivates the surface to eliminate those young weeds. In September the area looks bare and abandoned. “My neighbors used to look at it and ask, ‘Hey Joe, aren’t you going to plant garlic this year?’ “ he says. “ ‘No,’ I’d answer, ‘I never plant garlic. It’s already in there.’
In October, Capriotti spreads a 3- to 4-inch mulch of cherry and apple leaves. The mulch keeps any more weeds from sprouting and would prevent the garlic from coming up, too, if it weren’t for the timely arrival of the wood thrush, or winter robin, from the local forest. These birds, which move to the open lowlands with the first cold weather, eat insects that live under the leaves. They turn the mulch, disturbing it enough for the garlic to sprout through. Last year, for some reason, not many thrushes came, but robins took over and did the job nearly as well. Capriotti has built bird boxes all around his house and watering ponds nearby to attract birds of all kinds. Besides turning the garlic mulch, the thrushes, robins and warblers effectively control insects throughout the garden.
By spring most of the mulch is gone. Night crawlers and microorganisms have turned it into rich compost. “Don’t dig manure into the soil when you start the bed, Capriotti suggests. “I tried that one year when I was trying to get huge cloves just for show. The plants grew big enough, but they were only the leaves—no cloves. If you want to fertilize, spread 1 inch of well-rotted manure on top of the ground. After a patch has had no fertilizer for many years, it is necessary to do this. By not plowing, and by spreading a little manure once in a while and a mulch of leaves every fall, I get elephant garlic bulbs of all sizes — some weigh over 1 pound. The shopkeepers I sell to don’t like it when they get that big. It’s too weird — the customers have never seen anything like it.”
Garlic likes full sun and grows well in most soil conditions, but the soil should not be too heavy and it must have good drainage. “Garlic hates to have its feet wet and will rot in boggy areas,” Capriotti says. “Don’t water in the summer, especially with an overhead sprinkler. I don’t even sprinkle my strawberries or raspberries nearby because I’m afraid some of the water might get on the garlic. If it rains heavily after the Fourth of July, it rots some of the plants and you get a lot of culls. I replant the culls later in areas that look kind of sparse.”
This way of growing garlic has emerged from a lifetime of living and working close to nature. It requires no machinery or chemicals — only a hand cultivator and a garden trowel. “You have to have the right soil conditions,” Capriotti says, “and you have to be aware of everything going on in the garden.” The technique is simple yet sophisticated, and closely follows the natural cycle of garlic, a perennial plant. Capriotti is proud of his way with garlic and loves to remind his many visitors, “I don’t plant garlic — I only harvest it.”
Organic Gardening, April 1987
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Top 10 Tips for Storing Seeds
If you have leftover seeds or aren’t ready to plant your seeds when they arrive, you’ll need to store them properly to ensure good germination.
I love this article from OrganicGardening.com.
1. Think dry and cool no matter where you store seed. Humidity and warmth shorten a seed’s shelf life.
2. Keep seed packets in plastic food storage bags, plastic film canisters, Mason jars with tight-fitting lids, or glass canisters with gasketed lids.
3. The refrigerator is generally the best place to store seeds.
4. Keep your seed-storage containers well away from the freezer section of your refrigerator.
5. To keep seeds dry, wrap 2 heaping tablespoons of powdered milk in 4 layers of facial tissue, then put the milk packet inside the storage container with the seed packets. Or add a packet of silica gel. Replace every 6 months.
6. Store each year’s seeds together and date them. Because most seeds last about 3 years, you’ll know at a glance which container of seeds might be past its prime when planting season comes.
7. When you’re ready to plant, remove seed containers from the refrigerator and keep them closed until the seeds warm to room temperature. Otherwise, moisture in the air will condense on the seeds, causing them to clump together.
8. If you’re gathering and saving seeds from your own plants, spread the seeds on newspaper and let them air dry for about a week. Write seed names on the newspaper so there’s no mix-up. Pack the air-dried seeds in small paper packets or envelopes, and label with plant name, date, and other pertinent information. Remember, if you want to save your own seeds, you’ll need to plant open-pollinated varieties. They’ll come back true; hybrids won’t.
9. Or dry saved seeds on paper towels. They’ll stick to the towels when dry, so roll them up right in the towel to store them. When you’re ready to plant, just tear off bits of the towel, one seed at a time, and plant seed and towel right in the soil.
10. Even if you’re organized, methodical, and careful about storing seeds, accept the fact that some seeds just won’t germinate the following year. Home gardeners will find that stored sweet corn and parsnip seeds, in particular, have low germination rates, and other seeds will only remain viable for a year or two.
Friday, October 11, 2013
Judge rules that GMOs are imminent threat
Judge rules that GMOs are imminent threat
Father Miguel Concha said the judge’s decision reflects a commitment to
respect the Precautionary Principle expressed in various international treaties
and statements of human rights. Concha emphasized that the government is obliged
to protect the human rights of Mexicans against the economic interests of big
business.The lawsuit seeks to protect the “human right to save and use the
agrobiodiversity of native landraces from the threats posed by GMO maize”, said
the human rights advocate.
MONSANTO, PIONEER, PROHIBITED FROM MARKETING TRANSGENIC
SEED
Devon G. Peña | Seattle, WA | October 11, 2013
An October 10 press release with Mexico City byline announces the
banning of genetically-engineered corn in Mexico. According to the group that
issued the press release, La Coperacha, a federal judge has ordered Mexico’s SAGARPA (Secretaría de
Agricultura, Ganadería, Desarrollo Rural, Pesca, y Alimentación), which is
Mexico’s Secretary of Agriculture, and SEMARNAT (Secretaría de
Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales), which is equivalent of the EPA, to
immediately “suspend all activities involving the planting of transgenic corn in
the country and end the granting of permission for experimental and pilot
commercial plantings”.
The unprecedented ban was granted by the Twelfth Federal District Court
for Civil Matters of Mexico City. Judge Jaime Eduardo Verdugo J. wrote the
opinion and cited “the risk of imminent harm to the environment” as the basis
for the decision. The judge’s ruling also ruled that multinationals like
Monsanto and Pioneer are banned from the release of transgenic maize in the
Mexican countryside” as long as collective action lawsuits initiated by
citizens, farmers, scientists, and civil society organizations are working their
way through the judicial system.
The decision was explained during a press conference in Mexico City
yesterday by members of the community-based organizations that sued federal
authorities and companies introducing transgenic maize into Mexico. The group,
Acción Colectiva, is led by Father Miguel Concha of the Human Rights Center Fray
Francisco de Vittoria; Victor Suarez of ANEC (National Association of Rural
Commercialization Entertprises); Dr. Mercedes Lopéz of Vía Organica; and Adelita
San Vicente, a teacher and member of Semillas de Vida, a national
organization that has been involved in broad-based social action projects to
protect Mexico’s extraordinary status as a major world center of food crop
biodiversity.
 |
| Some of the native maize varieties from Oaxaca, Mexico |
According to the press release, Acción Colectiva [Collective Action]
aims to achieve absolute federal declaration of the suspension of the
introduction of transgenic maize in all its various forms – including
experimental and pilot commercial plantings – in Mexico, “which is the birthplace of corn in
the world”.
This ruling marks a milestone in the long struggle of citizen demands
for a GMO-free country, acknowledged Rene Sanchez Galindo, legal counsel for the
plaintiffs in the lawsuit, adding that the ruling has serious enforcement
provisions and includes the possibility of “criminal charges for the authorities
responsible for allowing the introduction of transgenic corn in our
country”.
Father Miguel Concha said the judge’s decision reflects a commitment to
respect the Precautionary Principle expressed in various international treaties
and statements of human rights. Concha emphasized that the government is obliged
to protect the human rights of Mexicans against the economic interests of big
business.The lawsuit seeks to protect the “human right to save and use the
agrobiodiversity of native landraces from the threats posed by GMO maize”, said
the human rights advocate.
The class action lawsuit is supported by scientific evidence from
studies that have – since 2001 – documented the contamination of Mexico’s native
corn varieties by transgenes from GMO corn, principally the varieties introduced
by Monsanto’s Roundup ready lines and the herbicide-resistant varieties marketed
by Pioneer and Bayer CropScience. The collection of the growing body of
scientific research on the introgression of transgenes into Mexico’s native corn
genome has been a principal goal and activity of the national campaign, Sin Maíz, No Hay Paíz [Without Corn,
There Is No Country].
Grape Jelly Recipe from Allrecipes.com
 |
| This recipe calls for grape juice, but if you have fresh grapes, check out the recipes that preceeds this recipe. |
Original recipe makes 3 pintsChange Servings
Directions
- Sterilize and dry jars for jelly, and set side. I like to use my dishwasher. New lids are recommended for best results.
- Combine grape juice and pectin in a large pot over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, and stir one minute at a rolling boil. Stir in sugar for a few minutes to completely dissolve. Remove from heat.
- Ladle the hot jelly into the jars, leaving 1/2 inch of space at the top. Wipe rims of jars with a clean dry cloth. Cover with a lid and ring to seal. Let stand 24 hours at room temperature, then refrigerate. Jelly may take up to a week to set. Once set, it is ready to serve. Store in the refrigerator for up to three weeks, once set. If canning for long term storage, process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes, or contact your local extension for processing times in your area.
- PREP 10 mins
- COOK 5 mins
- READY IN 15 mins
Footnotes
- If canning for long term storage, process in a hot water bath for 10 minutes, or contact your local extension for processing times in your area. Processing times may vary based on sugar content and altitude.
How to Make Homemade Grape Jelly - Easily!
Nothing is more distressing than to actually grow a bountiful crop of fruit or veges, and then not to know how to preserve them. I love this article that I have found from Pickyourown.org.
Making and canning your own grape jelly is also quite easy. Here's how to do it, in 12 easy steps and completely illustrated. These directions work equally well for other types of grape-like fruits. See this page for muscadine jelly and scuppernong jelly). If you cannot get fresh fruit, you can make jelly from frozen or bottled juice. See this page for those grape jelly, from juice directions.
Related pages: See this page for How to make muscadine or scuppernong jelly or this page for Jam-making directions and this page for apple jelly directions!
For easy applesauce or apple butter directions, click on these links.
It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality ones! You can use Concord grapes, red grapes or other grapes. Whichever you choose, you want flavorful grapes. Plain seedless white/green grapes, for example, have little flavor and make a bland jelly. Most people choose Concord grapes or red grapes. Seedless or with seeds doesn't matter, as the strainer will remove them! I prefer to grow my own; which is really easy - but that does take some space and time.
NOTE: If unsanitized jars are used, the product should be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result in a poor set (runny jelly), it’s better to sanitize the jars.Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
How to Make Homemade Grape Jelly - Easily!
Making and canning your own grape jelly is also quite easy. Here's how to do it, in 12 easy steps and completely illustrated. These directions work equally well for other types of grape-like fruits. See this page for muscadine jelly and scuppernong jelly). If you cannot get fresh fruit, you can make jelly from frozen or bottled juice. See this page for those grape jelly, from juice directions.
Related pages: See this page for How to make muscadine or scuppernong jelly or this page for Jam-making directions and this page for apple jelly directions!
For easy applesauce or apple butter directions, click on these links.
Ingredients
- Grapes - 5 lbs of fresh grapes, preferably fresh, but if you want to start with grape juice (5 cups bottled, without sugar added or reconstituted from frozen, without sugar), you can skip to step 7.
- Pectin (it's a natural product, made from apples and available at grocery stores (season - spring through late summer) and local "big box" stores. It usually goes for about $2.00 to $2.50 per box. You'll get best results with no-sugar needed pectin, whether you choose to add sugar or not! See here for more information about how to choose the type of pectin to use.
- Sugar - About 4.5 cups of dry, granulated (table) sugar, if you use the no-sugar-needed pectin (the only type I recommend) or low sugar pectin. If you use regular pectin, you'll need 7 cups of sugar. Of course, you can substitute honey, agave, stevia or Splenda; see the no-sugar recipe, click here.
Equipment
- Large spoons and ladles
- Jar funnel ($2 at Target, other big box stores, and often grocery stores; and available online - see this page) or order it as part of the kit with the jar grabber.
- Jar grabber (to pick up the hot jars)- Big box stores and grocery stores sometimes carry them; and it is available online - see this page. It's a tremendously useful to put jars in the canner and take the hot jars out (without scalding yourself!). The kit sold below has everything you need, and at a pretty good price:
- Blender, food processor or juicer - Yes, you could do it manually, if are only making a small batch, are insane, or you have access to child labor.
- At least 1 large pot; I prefer 16 to 20 quart Teflon lined pots for easy cleanup.
- Jelly strainer - see step 6 - or a colander and cheesecloth.
- 1 Canner (a huge pot to sanitize the jars after filling (about $30 to $35 at mall kitchen stores, sometimes at big box stores and grocery stores.). Note: we sell canners and supplies here, too - at excellent prices - and it helps support this web site!
- Ball jars (Grocery stores, like Publix, Kroger, Safeway carry them, as do some big box stores - about $7 per dozen 8 ounce jars including the lids and rings)
- Lids - thin, flat, round metal lids with a gum binder that seals them against the top of the jar. They may only be used once.
- Rings - metal bands that secure the lids to the jars. They may be reused many times.
Optional stuff:
- Foley Food Mill ($25) - not necessary; useful to mush up the fruit or if you want to remove seeds (for example, from blackberries) or make applesauce.
- Lid lifter (has a magnet to pick the lids out of the boiling water where you sanitize them. ($2 at big box stores or it comes in the kit at left)
Grape Jelly-making Directions
This example shows you how to make grape jelly. You can use this recipe to make almost any type of jelly from the fruit juice; where there is a difference, I will point it out! The yield from this recipe is about 12 eight-ounce jars (which is the same as 6 pints).
Step 1 - Pick the grapes! (or buy them already picked)
It's fun to go pick your own and you can obviously get better quality ones! You can use Concord grapes, red grapes or other grapes. Whichever you choose, you want flavorful grapes. Plain seedless white/green grapes, for example, have little flavor and make a bland jelly. Most people choose Concord grapes or red grapes. Seedless or with seeds doesn't matter, as the strainer will remove them! I prefer to grow my own; which is really easy - but that does take some space and time.
Above are grapes that I picked at a pick-your-own farm. If you want to pick your own, here is a list and links to the pick your own farms.
Step 2 - How much fruit?
Grape Jelly can ONLY be made in rather small batches - about 6 cups at a time - like the directions on the pectin say, DO NOT increase the recipes or the grape jelly won't "set" (jell, thicken). As mentioned in the Ingredients section; you may use either 5 lbs of fresh grapes or 5 cups of grape juice (either bottled or reconstituted from frozen concentrate) without added sugar. Using grape juice is especially useful if you want to make some grape jelly in December to give away at Christmas!Step 3 - Wash the jars and lids
Now's a good time to get the jars ready, so you won't be rushed later. The dishwasher is fine for the jars; especially if it has a "sanitize" cycle, the water bath processing will sanitize them as well as the contents! If you don't have a dishwasher with a sanitize cycle, you can wash the containers in hot, soapy water and rinse, then sanitize the jars by boiling them 10 minutes, and keep the jars in hot water until they are used.NOTE: If unsanitized jars are used, the product should be processed for 5 more minutes. However, since this additional processing can result in a poor set (runny jelly), it’s better to sanitize the jars.Put the lids into a pan of hot, but not quite boiling water (that's what the manufacturer's recommend) for 5 minutes, and use the magnetic "lid lifter wand" to pull them out.
Leave the jars in the dishwasher on "heated dry" until you are ready to use them. Keeping them hot will prevent the jars from breaking when you fill them with the hot jelly.
Step 3 -Wash the grapes!
I'm sure you can figure out how to wash the grapes in a large bowl under running plain cold water.
Pick out any stems and leaves that became mixed in!
Check the directions with the pectin; typically, it is 7 cups of sugar to 5 cups of grape juice and one box of regular pectin. You can use about half as much sugar if you use the "no-sugar-needed" pectin. The precise measurements are found in each and every box of pectin sold. Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup of the sugar and keep this separate from the rest of the sugar. If you are not using sugar, you'll just have to stir more vigorously to prevent the pectin from clumping.
Put the grap
es in a pot and add enough water to just cover the grapes. Put the crushed grapes in a big pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning) for until it starts to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. We just want to soften the skins to help release the juice and break down some of the fruit to help it pass through our juice strainer. 
You can either put the soft cooked grapes through a jelly strainer (about $9.00, see ordering at right) which results in the most clear jelly and is easiest to use, or pour them through cheesecloth in a colander. Or if you don't mind chunky jelly, just let the juice stand for 20 minutes, and decant (pour off) the clear liquid to use and leave the solids behind.
You may also want to run the crushed cooked grapes through a Foley food mill (about $20 - see this page) BEFORE the jelly strainer - it helps to extract more juice and jet out the large skins that will clog the strainer. It's not necessary, but helps you get the most out of the grapes.
If you need a stopping point and want to finish up the next day, this is a good place. Sometimes, jelly gets crystals, called tartrate crystals, forming in the jelly. They're not harmful and don't affect the taste, but some people don't like the appearance. I rarely even see them! But if you do, let juice stand in a cool place overnight, then strain through two thicknesses of damp cheesecloth to remove any crystals that have formed.
Comments from a visitor on August 22, 2011: "I just thought I would tell you a cost saving item. I use the paint filters at Sherwin Williams paint stores they are so easy and economical. They can also be washed and reused multiple times. Yesterday I worked up about three gallons of grapes and I used the 5 gallon size (they come in all sizes). "
Stir the pectin into the grape juice and put the mix in a big pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning). It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to a full boil (the kind that cannot be stirred away).Notes about pectin: I usually add about 20% more pectin (just open another pack and add a little) or else the jelly is runnier than I like. With a little practice, you'll find out exactly how much pectin to get the thickness you like. Another tip: use the low sugar or no-sugar pectin. It cuts the amount of sugar you need from 7 cups per batch to 4 cups. And it tastes even better! On the other hand; I still add some sugar, even with the No-sugar pectin. With no added sugar, the batches always turned out runny and bland. You might want to try using the low sugar recipe with a mixture of sugar and Stevia (or if you prefer, agave, honey or Splenda); that could work, but you do get the best results with sugar. 
Need lids, rings and replacement jars?
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When the grape-pectin mix has reached a full boil, add the rest of the sugar (about 6 and 3/4 cups of sugar per 5 cup batch of grape juice; 4 cups of sugar if you are using the low or no-sugar pectin) and then bring it back to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute.
I keep a metal tablespoon sitting in a glass of ice water, then take a half spoonful of the mix and let it cool to room temperature on the spoon. If it thickens up to the consistency I like, then I know the jelly is ready. If not, I mix in a little more pectin (about 1/4 to 1/2 of another package) and bring it to a boil again for 1 minute.
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jelly off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into the boiling water canner!This is where the jar tongs come in really handy!
Keep the jars covered with at least 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling. In general, boil them for 5 minutes, which is what SureJell (the makers of the pectin) recommend. I say "in general" because you have to process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea level, or if you use larger jars, or if you did not sanitize the jars and lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of pectin will tell you exactly - and see the Table below for altitude differences. The directions on the pectin tend to be pretty conservative. Note: Some people don't even boil the jars; they just ladle it hot into hot jars, put the lids and rings on and invert them, but putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage! To me, it makes little sense to put all the working into making the jelly and then not to process the jars to be sure they don't spoil!
Lift the jars out of the water with your jar lifter tongs and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok. Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!
Step 5 - Measure out the sugar
Check the directions with the pectin; typically, it is 7 cups of sugar to 5 cups of grape juice and one box of regular pectin. You can use about half as much sugar if you use the "no-sugar-needed" pectin. The precise measurements are found in each and every box of pectin sold. Mix the dry pectin with about 1/4 cup of the sugar and keep this separate from the rest of the sugar. If you are not using sugar, you'll just have to stir more vigorously to prevent the pectin from clumping.
Step 4 - Crush or chop the grapes
You mush the grapes to release the juice. A potato masher is useful to help crush them. But if you really want to ,make it easy, just use your food processor or 
chopper OR a juicer. To make jelly, we'll need to crush them well so we can extract the juice. You'll need about 5 cups of juice.
chopper OR a juicer. To make jelly, we'll need to crush them well so we can extract the juice. You'll need about 5 cups of juice.
If you use a juicer, you can juice the grapes, then skip to step 8.
Step 6 - Heat the crushed grapes on the stove
Put the grapes in a pot and add enough water to just cover the grapes. Put the crushed grapes in a big pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning) for until it starts to boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. We just want to soften the skins to help release the juice and break down some of the fruit to help it pass through our juice strainer. Step 7 - Sieve the cooked grapes
You can either put the soft cooked grapes through a jelly strainer (about $9.00, see ordering at right) which results in the most clear jelly and is easiest to use, or pour them through cheesecloth in a colander. Or if you don't mind chunky jelly, just let the juice stand for 20 minutes, and decant (pour off) the clear liquid to use and leave the solids behind.You may also want to run the crushed cooked grapes through a Foley food mill (about $20 - see this page) BEFORE the jelly strainer - it helps to extract more juice and jet out the large skins that will clog the strainer. It's not necessary, but helps you get the most out of the grapes.
If you need a stopping point and want to finish up the next day, this is a good place. Sometimes, jelly gets crystals, called tartrate crystals, forming in the jelly. They're not harmful and don't affect the taste, but some people don't like the appearance. I rarely even see them! But if you do, let juice stand in a cool place overnight, then strain through two thicknesses of damp cheesecloth to remove any crystals that have formed.
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Step 8 - Add the pectin to the hot strained juice and bring to a full boil
Stir the pectin into the grape juice and put the mix in a big pot on the stove over medium to high heat (stir often enough to prevent burning). It should take about 5 to 10 minutes to get it to a full boil (the kind that cannot be stirred away).Notes about pectin: I usually add about 20% more pectin (just open another pack and add a little) or else the jelly is runnier than I like. With a little practice, you'll find out exactly how much pectin to get the thickness you like. Another tip: use the low sugar or no-sugar pectin. It cuts the amount of sugar you need from 7 cups per batch to 4 cups. And it tastes even better! On the other hand; I still add some sugar, even with the No-sugar pectin. With no added sugar, the batches always turned out runny and bland. You might want to try using the low sugar recipe with a mixture of sugar and Stevia (or if you prefer, agave, honey or Splenda); that could work, but you do get the best results with sugar.
Is your jelly too runny? Pectin enables you to turn out perfectly set jelly every time. Made from natural apples, there are also natural no-sugar pectins that allow you to reduce the sugar you add by half or even eliminate sugar.!
Get them all here at the best prices on the internet!
Get them all here at the best prices on the internet!
Step 9 - Get the lids warming in hot (but not boiling) water
If you didn't do so already, put the lids into a pan of hot water for at least several minutes; to soften up the gummed surface and clean the lids.Need lids, rings and replacement jars?
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Step 10 - Add the remaining sugar and bring to a boil
When the grape-pectin mix has reached a full boil, add the rest of the sugar (about 6 and 3/4 cups of sugar per 5 cup batch of grape juice; 4 cups of sugar if you are using the low or no-sugar pectin) and then bring it back to a boil and boil hard for 1 minute.
Step 11 - Testing for "jell" (thickness)
I keep a metal tablespoon sitting in a glass of ice water, then take a half spoonful of the mix and let it cool to room temperature on the spoon. If it thickens up to the consistency I like, then I know the jelly is ready. If not, I mix in a little more pectin (about 1/4 to 1/2 of another package) and bring it to a boil again for 1 minute.
Step 12 - Fill the jars and put the lid and rings on
Fill them to within ¼-inch of the top, wipe any spilled jelly off the top, seat the lid and tighten the ring around them. Then put them into the boiling water canner!This is where the jar tongs come in really handy!Step 13 - Process the jars in the boiling water bath
Keep the jars covered with at least 2 inches of water. Keep the water boiling. In general, boil them for 5 minutes, which is what SureJell (the makers of the pectin) recommend. I say "in general" because you have to process (boil) them longer at higher altitudes than sea level, or if you use larger jars, or if you did not sanitize the jars and lids right before using them. The directions inside every box of pectin will tell you exactly - and see the Table below for altitude differences. The directions on the pectin tend to be pretty conservative. Note: Some people don't even boil the jars; they just ladle it hot into hot jars, put the lids and rings on and invert them, but putting the jars in the boiling water bath REALLY helps to reduce spoilage! To me, it makes little sense to put all the working into making the jelly and then not to process the jars to be sure they don't spoil!| Table 1. Recommended process time for Grape Jelly in a boiling water canner. | ||||
| Process Time at Altitudes of | ||||
| Style of Pack | Jar Size | 0 - 1,000 ft | 1,001 - 6,000 ft | Above 6,000 ft |
| Hot | Half-pints or Pints | 5 min | 10 | 15 |
Step 14 - Remove and cool the jars - Done!
Lift the jars out of the water with your jar lifter tongs and let them cool without touching or bumping them in a draft-free place (usually takes overnight) You can then remove the rings if you like, but if you leave them on, at least loosen them quite a bit, so they don't rust in place due to trapped moisture. Once the jars are cool, you can check that they are sealed verifying that the lid has been sucked down. Just press in the center, gently, with your finger. If it pops up and down (often making a popping sound), it is not sealed. If you put the jar in the refrigerator right away, you can still use it. Some people replace the lid and reprocess the jar, then that's a bit iffy. If you heat the contents back up, re-jar them (with a new lid) and the full time in the canner, it's usually ok. Once cooled, they're ready to store. I find they last up to 12 months. But after about 6 to 8 months, they get darker in color and start to get runny. They still are safe to eat, but the flavor and texture aren't as good. So eat them in the first 6 months after you prepare them!Other Equipment:
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Frequently Asked Questions
Q. I was reading the instructions on making grape jelly. We have a super-duper juicer that we can run the grapes through and skip the grape-food processor/ crushing steps, but is that a suitable thing to do?A. Sure, that ought to work great!Q. I don't have a jelly sieve, so you suggest cheesecloth (which I do have). Will the jelly come out clear using cheesecloth (even doubled up). I really don't want to use a pillow case as I've heard is the way to go. Will cheesecloth do the trick?
Yup! It just depends what you want to achieve. The finer the cloth, the more clear the final product. But that also reduces the yield, and the “cloudiness” is actually bits of fruit, which I like!
Comments and tips
- A visitor writes on October 08, 2013: "I used your instructions to make my first batch of grape jelly.. I've never made jelly of any type before and this year I had a ton of grapes on my vine so I got brave and attempted it..:D It worked out fabulously and I wanted to say Thank you for your great instructions.. :D Now I am making my third batch after my family and friends loved it so much an brought me over their grapes!! :D
- Comments from a visitor on September 03, 2012: "I tried your grape jelly recipe. It is the first time I have made grape jelly as my brother's new home has a concord grape vine. Your recipe worked amazingly!! I used the no-sugar bernardin gelatin and liquid stevia (4 eye droppers full). My husband is borderline diabetic, and I am allergic to aspartame and the other artifical sweeteners. It is a little more tart than some may like, but my husbands likes the taste,... he was my taste tester for sweetness. Thank you for posting the recipe. Bonnie Perreault" (NOTE from Blake - Substituting Stevia for sugar will make it much more tart, but it still works!)
- Comments from a visitor on September 18, 2009: "Great time making concord grape jelly for the first time. I did not have all the tools but it worked out- I guess. the spoon trick to test the jelly was the trick of the day. I got 8 8oz jars out of my grape vine in the back yard. Nice easy to follow and the pictures helped me too. House smelled great for awhile ( until the kids got home ) I'm going to post all of the pictures on my Facebook page sometime soon. Thanks again."
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: 10/11/2013
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PickYourOwn.org does not charge either farmers or consumers! I do all of the programming, web design and updates myself. If you'd like to make a donation to help me pay to keep the website going, please make a donation to me at Benivia through our secure donation processor. Just click the button below and follow the instructions:
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