# Scuppernongs



## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

I stopped by my cousins this afternoon (adjoining farm). Her scuppernong and muscadine vines were loaded down. She’d picked a few gallons and I couldn’t tell she’d picked at all.

Plan to go over tomorrow and pick a couple of gallons myself. artydance:

Since she has these wild vines on arbors… guess this post goes under gardening


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

For those of you outside the south who may be wondering... What the #$% is a scuppernong?

From the net... "T_hink of the scuppernong as the South's supergrape. It outlasts scorching temperatures that would shrivel the pinot, chardonnay, or gamay (and provides forty times more antioxidants). Its unusually thick skin keeps the bugs at bay. And it makes a robust jelly or wine, perfect accompaniments to duck, pork, or even fried green tomatoes. Although its range spans from southern Virginia to Florida, this golden variety of muscadine is most closely associated with North Carolina, where it was first cultivated and still sprouts up in backyards each August in clusters of jawbreaker-size goodness. The scuppernong's sweetness has also made it a favored ingredient in treats such as sorbet and pie, but many North Carolinians will tell you there's no need to tamper with perfection. To really eat one like a local, just pluck it from the vine, bite a small hole in the skin, and suck out the good stuff.

History&#8230; Florentine navigator Giovanni da Verrazano wrote the first recorded tribute to the "big white grape" after spotting scuppernongs in North Carolina's Cape Fear River Valley in 1524. Explorers sent by Sir Walter Raleigh in 1584 are believed to have discovered the Mother Vine, a massive vine spanning an acre of Roanoke Island._"


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## bacpacker (Jul 15, 2011)

They are good. I have vines taken from my stepdas, that were taken from his dads, that were taken from... well you get the idea.


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## Balls004 (Feb 28, 2015)

Time to make some wine!!!


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## bogey (Aug 10, 2015)

Jealous! Mine didn't make that good this year. I think we trimmed them back too hard. Not even enough for a good jelly batch. Enjoy!


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## Cotton (Oct 12, 2013)

Finally made it over after supper tonight and picked a few, got enough for jelly!


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Mine did better last year, then this year.
I have 8 tame vines & one wild vine.

I also have some southern grapes, they are small, have tough skins & seeds.
Not as sweet as table grapes, but I like them.
Pears look good too.


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## bugoutbob (Nov 11, 2012)

Cotton said:


> For those of you outside the south who may be wondering... What the #$% is a scuppernong?
> 
> Thanks for that, I had no idea. I simply looked at the thread out of curiosity


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Cotton,
I got a new Muscadine called "TARA"
Do you know any thing about this new vine?


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

My goodness those are some nice grapes! I have some on the fence but i may have taken too much leader vine off them. I'll see in a few months.


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## dademoss (Aug 6, 2011)

Some great tasting things in the future with that harvest


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

In eastern North Carolina (Manteo on Roanoke Island) is a Scuppernong known as the "Mother vine". I stopped to see it on a trip to Buxton, on the Outer Banks. It really is a thing to behold, if you are into that sort of thing. I am. It was great! It is supposedly over 400 years old!

http://www.themothervine.com/

There was an article floating around saying a local right of way clearing crew sprayed some of it, and that part died off. They were worried they might lose the whole thing. Here is an NPR story on it:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=128365796


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

Amazing. We use to pick muscadines off vines every year in Stone Mountain Ga. They were purple grapes. I have soem here in NFlorida trying to take care of.


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## crabapple (Jan 1, 2012)

Meerkat said:


> Amazing. We use to pick muscadines off vines every year in Stone Mountain Ga. They were purple grapes. I have soem here in NFlorida trying to take care of.


You are talking about "Bulless".
Bulless is a wild muscadine that grows in the southern country side with no name, like scuppernongs or black beauty.


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## Meerkat (May 31, 2011)

crabapple said:


> You are talking about "Bulless".
> Bulless is a wild muscadine that grows in the southern country side with no name, like scuppernongs or black beauty.


 Could be but everyone in Stone Mountain Ga called them muscadines. So who knows?  Guess there could be other names for them.


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