A few years ago, I realized that a persistent pesky vine in my yard was actually a wild grape – a wild Mustang grape to be precise. I decided to stop fighting it and embrace it. We took out the large bush it grew in, purchased a trellis, and trained it (if that’s possible!) to grow on the trellis so my HOA and neighbors were less likely to complain. When it was growing well and producing grapes, I confirmed my identification of the plant with Dr. Merriweather, from whom I had taken a foraging class.
If you decide to let a Mustang grape grow in your yard, make sure you have a male vine close by to fertilize the vine you will get the grapes from. We have a fruit yielding vine in the front yard and a male vine in the back yard.
The grapes normally ripen through the month of June in my area but ripen later in other places. Wear gloves of some kind (I wear disposable gloves) to protect your hands from staining and from the acid in the grapes.
The grapes cannot be eaten fresh. The high acidity will burn your throat. They can be juiced for drinking or for making into jelly. Cooking lessens the effects of the acid.
I juiced about 5 quarts of purple grapes in a steam juicer to get 10 cups of clear pink-purple juice. That was enough to make two recipes of jelly which yielded a total of 17-1/2 half pint jars of jelly.
Don’t you love Mother Nature?!