EatTheWeeds: Episode 32: Wild Grapes

[RyanRuscitto]

Are you biking off of Markham road? Also, other than your wonderfully informative videos which I do enjoy, are there any specific books you recommend to be most accurate in their information? Such as something to take with me that has photos to compare. I appreciate it.

[EatTheWeeds]

@RyanRuscitto I was on the Seminole Trail. Unfortunately there is no such book, particulary for our area.

[kingcollie]

And a big thank you for the immediate reply!

[kingcollie]

Sorry, I have one more question. I was informed that all conglomerate berries that are red or black are edible, is this fact true?

[EatTheWeeds]

@kingcollie The correct term is "aggregate fruit" Conglomerate seems to be an internet invention. There is one survivalist who teaches that 99% of them are edible. I can think of two that are not. So while it's perhaps more true than not, it is no short cut. Learn the plant. 

[kingcollie]

@EatTheWeeds Thanks, I feel silly referring to it as a conglomerate now haha. Would you mind sharing which two are are not edible? I am an aspiring Botanist and there are still some things I'm not familiar with. I always make sure I learn the plant before doing anything with it. I find It's best to bring a camera, take a few photos of the plant and study them and the plant you assume it is. After I am sure of at least what genus it is and whether or not it is poisonous, then I make my move.

[kingcollie]

Hey there Green Deane, great videos. I'm sure they will be a good reference guide for me when I venture into the bush up here in Canada. I have a question about wild grapes: I found a nice patch of Vitis riparia and I was wondering when I should harvest them/ when are they ripe? And would the harvest time be different in Ontario Canada from the harvest time in Florida?

[EatTheWeeds]

@kingcollie Vitis riparia are ripe when they are black, and surprisingly they are ripe in the fall, just as they are here.

[kingcollie]

@EatTheWeeds Thanks so much. I had started to harvest the patch I found but now I know to leave it for another month or two. Thanks again Deane, cheers!

[FloridaAdventuring]

Thanks for your reply. That clears up the mystery.

[FloridaAdventuring]

Hello Green Deane,

Great videos. Maybe you can answer this question. Why is that the great majority (maybe 98%) of wild grape vines I see during the season in which grapes are ripe, don't have grapes on them? We have tons of wild grape vines around here, but I've found maybe 10 or 12 bunches.

[EatTheWeeds]

@FloridaAdventuring Wild grapses, paricularly the ones here in the South, are very sporadic in fruiting. They can go for years without fruiting and then one year a bounty. You just have to look around every year for which ones are fruiting.

[musicoutsidethebox]

hey dean, i was forraging some wild blackberries here in iowa and i saw what i thought were wild grapes, do they grow up here?

they had leaves that kind of resembled a maple leaf, the berries had 4 seeds i think and the ripe berries had a frost color coating over a purple berry.

it had tendrils and the grape clusters looks like a miniature version of store grapes.

also if it helps these silvery green/brown bugs love to eat and hang out on these vines. if these are grapes i will be so happy

[EatTheWeeds]

@musicoutsidethebox Yes, wild grapes grow in your area. Make sure the seeds are teardrop shaped, not half moon shape or with angles.

[dwiggs77]

Vitis labrusca (Fox grape) is native to the southeastern US so is V. aestivalis (Summer Grape) and v. rotundifolia (muscadine) now called Muscadinia rotundifolia because it has 2 extra genes not common with other grapes which makes them truly unique(and incompatible with the others mentioned) . the common European grape, Vitis vinifera was crossed with v.labrusca most notably to produce the concord grape.which the original vine still lives in concord Mass.

[hardsixteenyeah1]

@@EatTheWeeds In moments like these (and lots other ones, of course), I'd wish to understand english language so perfectly .... .Amazing beginnig, thanks.It's a real pleasure to listen all these fabulous chirping.

[rosabellis]

Hey, when I was hiking, I found a plant that looked a lot like the grape, but the seed was kinda curved. Is it edible?

[EatTheWeeds]

@rosabellis It helps if one knows where on earth you were hiking. Not knowing my North American guess would be the Moon Seed, Menispermum candense. Not edible.

[Ducksbyday]

Great video! one of my favorite places to hunt quail in southern nevada has a ton of wild grapes. we love to stop and eat the grapes, then continue our hunt for the delicious quail.

[KungFuKid1015]

I have a video on my channel where I am hiking along a trail and come accross a grape-like plant. I am not sure if it is edible or not. But if you could look at the video for me and let me know I would greatly appriciate it. Thanks :)

[EatTheWeeds]

@KungFuKid1015 They look like grapes but... take a good look at a seed. It should be tear drop shaped. You do not want to see any flat sides or angles, or crescent moon shapes.

[KungFuKid1015]

@EatTheWeeds Ok, I will check it out if I see them again. Thanks.

[D7aaron]

I live in WV and I have found what I thought were wild grapes the other day but they do not taste like grapes at all. They are on a large vine that looks just like a grape vine and have some old dried tendrils. Also there are two seeds and the inside looks like a grape. Is it possible they just aren't ripe yet? They really taste odd and have no sweetness nor that sour taste. Im sure its not v. creeper. Any suggestions as to if it is a grape vine with unripened fruit or a look alike?

[EatTheWeeds]

@D7aaron Hmmmm... Pepper vine perhaps? Ampelopsis arborea

[D7aaron]

I live in WV and I have found what I thought were wild grapes the other day but they do not taste like grapes at all. They are on a large vine that looks just like a grape vine and have some old dried tendrils. Also there are two seeds and the inside looks like a grape. Is it possible they just aren't ripoe yet? They really taste odd and have no sweetness nor that sour taste. Any suggestions as to if it is a grape vine with unripened fruit or a look alike?

[thedruidherbalist]

there around here in west pa.but they have  blue berryish taste but there on a grape vine

[miketonon]

Why are tea ingrediants usually dried? Do you have to dry them?

[EatTheWeeds]

@miketonon Drying gives a wider favor spectrum from the same plant. 

[miketonon]

@EatTheWeeds, so it makes it more potent?

[BobbieJeanS]

I did not know about the Virginia Creeper fruit toxicity. I know the birds love them, and they are abundant here. We have runners coming up everywhere from the adjacent property.

Can't stop them, and wish I could eat them!

[b1gje55e]

We have mustang grapes in Texas that looks very similar to these ones. I ate them since i was young. Here recently I ate some that I thought to be the same ones from my childhood. After eating a couple my lips began to itch. I believe it was from the grapes skin. Is that species of grape or just my reaction to it?

[EatTheWeeds]

Wild grapes can contain a huge amount of acid. I once crushed up some with my hands to make jelly and the acid burned my hands. One has to eat wild grapes carefully.

[EatTheWeeds]

It has been my experience that wild grapes do not produce every year, or do so irradically.

[KimIsMissing]

We live in ohio and I have grape vines in the back yard growing aorund a fence but there dosnt seem to be any grapes wanting to grow, I know it is grapes because of the taste of the tendril at the end... is there a certain time of year or...

[BJBOBBIJO]

Wild grapes make for a good jelly also. I have mixed them in with wild cherries for a good jelly as well. Im suprised there is no mention of eating the wild grape leaves. I love watching these eattheweeds videos. Thank you for posting them! :)

[EatTheWeeds]

In the accompanying article on my website I do talk about that, and also in one of the Mead Garden videos. While most grape leaves are edible most aren't too palatable. The local muscadine leaves turn into sheets of tough plastic when cooked, some of the escaped cultivars are slightly better, they are not great fare locally.

[thedruidherbalist]

@BJBOBBIJO have you tryed mixing them with elderberries its really good

[zombeez8myface]

If there is a vine that has a single woody tendril, huge clumps of berries almost exactly like these, but taste very bland and sappy and have an elliptic shaped leaf... I'm sure it isn't virginia creeper(green with black berries), moonseed (round red seed) and pretty sure it's not smilax (no tender shoots i could find) so i have no clue if this is a grape or not. Could it be?

[MadBadVoodo]

Great Video!!

Five Stars!!

[odin422]

great videos

[ArmyRanger10]

Are Virginia creeper grapes sour? I know a place where there are a lot of wild grapes but they are all sour no matter when I pick them.

[EatTheWeeds]

No! Emphatically no! Virgina Creeper is Parthenocissus quinquefolia, where as grapes are Vitis... That said, wild grapes can be quite sour.

[EatTheWeeds]

I need to be more clear on this. Virgina Creeper is NOT edible. It can ruin your kidneys and put you on a dialysis machine for the rest of your life. Do not eat them.

[700eyesonly007]

I have wild grapes in my yard also (Central, NY) the comment about the Virginia creeper makes me nervous about eating my yard grapes because I'm not sure, I asked about some other wild plants I have in my yard on the thistle #11 video, could I send an email and picture of my grapes (and other wild plants) to see if they are safe and edible? Right now wouldn't probably do much good, but about mid summer they will all be very robust, please do let me know.

Identifying can be very hard. Thank you

[EatTheWeeds]

The Virginia Creeper really doesn't look much like the grape but they do tend to grow in the same place. The creeper has five leaves and usually bright red young stems. Grapes are single leaved, so to speak.

[ratmanrod]

Hello Dean thank you for this informative vidio.I was wondering if you have lambs quarter in the south.I have it everyware and was wondering if you would do a vidio about them.Thanks again Rod

[EatTheWeeds]

I would like to do one on lambs quarters but the only source nearby is now a subdivision.I'll keep looking because they are a great wild edible, among the best.