Pat's Wildways: Muscadine Grapes

These days it’s not only nuts I am discovering on the ground during my walks. It’s also grapes, the native type, muscadines, the only native grape here and the only ones that can survive the Florida heat and humidity. When I walk through the woods, where there are grape vines in the trees, now some of them are dropping their fruit for all to enjoy.

Mostly it's squirrels, deer, raccoons and opossums that relish in this feast, but humans aren’t beyond their appeal too, if you are curious enough. Our own yard includes a small patch of woods with maple, pine and magnolia trees, and grape vines spread over the branches. Maybe my grape vines are mostly male plants, with no fruit that I can find. Or maybe the wildlife in my yard get to the grapes before I do, but that’s fine with me. Even without grapes on the vines, I’ve gotten a lot of pleasure from my grape vines. For a few years, when I was more ambitious, I used to drag the vines out of the trees in fall and wrap them into a circular wreath, then attach pine cones, holly and cedar sprigs, and other natural items to it, to make my own wreaths for my door and to give away.

But now I don’t venture far into the woods and stick to trails. There are lots of grapes on the paths now, for me to taste and admire. Some people in these parts do harvest these fruits from the wild, although it is not allowed in state parks, where nothing can be removed, but in state forests, there is no problem. On my walks I have encountered families shaking and yanking grape vines to get them to drop more fruit. I think it is wonderful that some kids can find wild fruit to snack on, a practice that is more often found in novels than in real life these days. It’s good to see.

Wild muscadine grapes are known for their thick skins and large seeds that make eating them a bit problematic. Some people just chew on them to suck out the sweet juice and then spit out the pits and skins. Others, with more time on their hands, will actually peel the grapes. Various cultivars of muscadine grapes have now been developed commercially, with thinner skins and fewer seeds. They can be used to make wine, for cooking, for making jams and just for snacking. These grapes and their wine have a different flavor profile than the usual wine grapes grown in drier climates. But these grapes withstand high humidity like no others, and may be a path towards climate change resilience in places that are getting too hot and humid for other grape varieties.

Recently I was in Gainesville with a morning of free time and I Googled muscadine grapes in this vicinity and found the High Springs Orchard about 15 miles outside of town. I called them up and they said, “Sure, come visit, but use the road on 105th Place, not our front entrance.” I set Google Maps and off I went.

So, there I was, trying to follow Google GPS, and I took a turn off Highway 27 onto 105th Place and kept going, right past the orchard driveway that I missed. I was on a small dirt road, and as I drove slowly along, it got smaller and smaller and much less traveled. But I couldn’t turn around anywhere — too narrow — so all I could do was keep going. I drove past a pasture with cattle, navigated past the large stump of a tree in the middle of the road, and no houses, and I started getting worried.

I began to picture the people who might live at the end of this off-the-beaten-track dirt road. I was definitely out of my element but I kept going. The track ended in someone’s driveway. The yard was full of farm equipment, a chicken coop and cattle behind a fence. I stopped to call the nursery to figure out where I was. All the time, I was half-expecting someone with a shotgun to come out and chase me away — or worse.

But then the door to the house opened and the owner came out. And what happened next, you will have to wait until next week to find out. Stay tuned ...

Pat Foster-Turley, Ph.D., is a zoologist on Amelia Island. She welcomes your nature questions and observations. patandbucko@yahoo.com