Grape Leaves

    What’s most prolific in the garden this year? Well, it’s not the tomatoes. Everyone’s garlic seems to have failed, so the garlic cloves I companion-planted around the roses have actually produced just as well as everyone else’s—or better. The blueberries are done. The peach tree is loaded, but slow to tree-ripen. (Great in Manischewitz Cream Peach though)

   But the grape leaves! Following a recipe from a Greek cookbook, I have been making “vine leaves”. Last year I started harvesting first whenever I needed to cut the wild vines back. I have never seen a single grape, but the leaves blanch and roll just great! This year I am preparing to paint the house, so I mixed up the rice filling, harvested leaves and got the pot simmering on the stove while I went out to cut the vines out of my Alba York rose bush, “Cecily”. They are delicious!

   Today, I took the bigger vines I had set aside when I trimmed, and I made two nice bag rustic wreaths. This is actually much moiré fun than what I did next, which was scrape the old paint off the walls in Cecily’s corner—she’s safely trussed up with a couple of rubber tie-downs—and clean out the gutters above, which can’t be reached when the corner is full of grape vines and wild morning glory vines running through the rose bush, Sure, it takes longer to harvest rather than just ripping out things before I paint, but those grape leaves sure are tasty! Also organic—and free!