Pleasant surprise!

When I moved in here, there was a wooden fence along the south side of the yard. It was tragic and I took it down a few months ago.

Since spring arrived, a large vine I knew about on that fence has become much more obvious, growing tons of leaves. This weekend, I looked more closely at it and found lots of bunches of small globes growing on it. I looked closer and found they were grapes! Some were turning purple, so I tasted one. It was good! My daughter ate one. Then a couple. Then a handful.. She wanted to pick all of them. Told her to wait until they ripen.

Like most things around here, the vine is old and has been neglected for many years. Amazing it's still alive. Must have really deep roots. It's on the fence line between the neighbor's yard and my own but they don't water it and no evidence they even know the grapes are edible. It hasn't been fertilized in years. So, last night I watered it and today I fertilized it with liquid fertilizer.

The grapes are tiny and seeded but I'm hoping I can develop them further with some care. There are lots and lots of them and they taste good. If nothing else, they would make good juice and maybe even wine. I'm happy I saw the grapes while they're still mostly green.

If they develop and form larger grapes than at present, I'll have to take some cuttings at some point to grow grapes up the columns of the solarium once it's built (with hops on other columns).

No matter what, it's really cool to find out you have a grape vine along your fence that you didn't even know about!