Most are sour. Some people claim that some are sweet but I have never had a sweet one. You just have to let it grow out and see.

I fight to keep them out of my flower beds and veggie garden, and you have to be as agressive as they are (or more so) because if they ever get their roots well-established, you can't get rid of them.

They are usually sour, but the wildlife love them, so I leave them alone in the woods so the wild things can feast on them. Some people make jam or jelly out of them, so I guess it is possible to add enough sugar to make them palatable.

Dawn

Where do they come from? They come from everywhere.

1. The birds eat the berries/seeds and 'plant' them if you know what I mean. These sort of junk plants are always worst along the fence lines, power lines, etc. where the birds like to sit.

2. At our house, the squirrels also do a really good job of gathering and planting pecans and acorns everywhere, so little oak and peacan saplings pop up in my veggie beds constantly courtesy of the squirrels.

3. Plants with windblown seeds are the worst. We get little elm trees all over creation here.

I'm sure the weedy trees and vines travel in other ways too, but at our house it is almost always the birds, the squirrels and the wind that spread them where we don't want them.

This is the worst weed season we've ever had here, and most of the problem weeds have only sprouted in the last month or so.....ever since it started raining here on April 28th or 29th. I've got most of the veggie garden weeded, heavily mulched and back under control, but I thought the weeds were going to win for a while. Now I am tackling the flower beds, but I have to be really careful as I do so because the snakes like to hang out in the flower beds.

Dawn

If you have possum grapes, I will be more than pleased to come harvest them for you. I would LOVE to have them. A little advance notice that the are beginning to ripen would be much appreciated so I can arrange for child care. Please email me directly. Call it a win-win. You get rid of sour grapes. I get something that reminds me of my childhood. Yum!

Seedmama

seedmama - Also reminded me of my childhood. My Dad and I would squirrel hunt in an area that had a possum grape vine and we would stop and snack. Just for the record, I don't eat squirrel, but I loved to go hunting with him.

Seedmama,
Let's put it this way. There will be no possum grapes anywhere in my gardening area, if I have my way about it. They are growing up in my shrubs and evergreens, and making me have to work in very dangerous conditions in having to deal with them, (snake territory), and as some of you may have figured out, I don't like snakes.

As Dawn said, she leaves them to the woods, and that's probably the best place to look for them. There should be plenty available for picking this year.

From what I was able to find online about them, they can strangle a tree and bring it down. The vines seem to migrate from tree to tree, some getting strong enough Tarzan could swing on them. There is no way I'd want that started anywhere near my gardening area.

Sorry I couldn't help you, but if you wanted to domesticate some of the danged things, I have plenty of starts your welcome to. :)

Shekanahh

They are wonderful... and make the best Jelly, I have several starts here growing and cannot wait for the wonderful fruit.

i have them everywhere. last year i cut them down because they were in the trees, but not long after that they were back in the trees. i plan on spraying them to kill them in my yard. i allow them to grow along the fence if they are not near trees.

speaking of squirrels. we have corn growing up in our new grass. we figure the squirrels buried the corn there. i told my husband if the fescue dies this year we can plant corn and keep it mowed.

actually anyone that is having brown spot. the lawn area of garden web told me to use corn meal and so i got 50 lbs. and the fungi is gone. i am so happy. i was not so sure about organic gardening before then. we tossed out our bug poisoning as well.

CAN YOU SEND ME A CLIPPING OF YOUR POSSUM GRAPES? I WILL PAY FOR SHIPPING. I'M IN BROKEN ARROW, WHERE ARE YOU IN OKLAHOMA?

We used to have a lot of possum grapes on my mother's farm in the Missouri Ozarks. As it was explained to me by a local (I was not native to the area), these grapes are sour even after they've turned a dark purple until a hard freeze came along, then they turn sweet. In other words, they "play possum" until a freeze and that's how they got their name of "possum grapes." Though I never tested this personally, my mother and stepfather swore it was true. My mother used the grapes to make jams, jelly and wine.

They grow wild here in the river bottoms lands along the Red River (though I doubt the grapes have survived this year's massive flooding) and people pick them to make jelly and wine too. I haven't seen any this year, but then the roads we'd drive down where you normally see heavy loads of grapes on the vines have been cut off by flooding, have had mud over the road or have washed out completely.

I still fight to remove wild grapes planted by birds because they always seem to plant them in places where I don't want them to grow. If you don't remove them while they're very young and recently sprouted, you'll never get rid of them.

Just be SURE you are eating possum grapes and DO NOT eat the purple seeds of the poke plant or the small grape-like seeds of poison ivy. Dangerous!

Poke berries are not poison I eat them every year my kids eat them when they were growing up are good for stomach

Possum grapes are a kind of wild grape that grows here in Okla. I grew up eating them. My dad made Possum Grape (PG) wine out of them and my mom would made jams and jellies and we'd just eat them. They are sweet when ripe. They are ripe when they are purple and soft. I love them. And actually just ate a few yesterday and took a vine clipping to start another patvh of them at my house. This is the time of the year when the vines start producing the grapes. Yes, they do grow like crazy and the birds do love them but just enjoy their fruit. Pick the grapes and freeze them in a freezer bag until you get enough to make whatever it is you want to make. I think that the vines are beautiful with the curly tails and large leaves. I'd love to build a porch with a frame for them to grow around and over to provide a shade. If you wanted to do this... I'd suggest that to keep them at bay, to put up a fine woven netting that opens in sections. Reasons: 1) To keep the vines off your head. 2) To keep the grapes and bird droppings off if everything. 3) the sections would allow you to open up and pick the grapes. Just as an FYI & if u dont mind some information....Plums, peaches and blackberries are also out right now if you love wild fruits like this Okie Country girl does. Hahaha and Morel mushrooms come out between March & April. Watch the Oak trees. When the leaves are about the size of a quarter than go out hunting for them in wooded ares that are near a body of water, they will be found growing out in the shady ooen areas, up from the dirt amongst closely growing SHADY trees that have moist surrounding soil, though very little to no grass growing. Put them in a large bowl of water and slosh around to clean, repeat this 2-3 times. Do NOT throw the water out. Either take it back to where you found to mushrooms growing and dump it there or find an appropriate place as I described above and put it there. The water will contain the spurs which are what the mushrooms grow from. Give back to nature what you have taken from it. ;) After rising, towel pat dry, quarter them up. Make a batter of flour/salt/pepper/ baking powder/egg & water to the consistency of waffle batter. Dip them, than deep fry in oil til brown and floating. Than invite your loved ones over to enjoy them with you. This is something my family has done for many many years. It's a traditional thing we do. They are a treat for us, they are a delicacy and are actually very expensive if you were to or even could buy them. Now that my dad is at that age where it's too tasking to walk far... the responsibility of finding them each year has been passed to me. :) I hope thos helped you and I hope you didn't mind the lengthy added info. Just wanted to share in hopes that you or someone reading might use the info to enjoy the smaller things in life.

We had a lot of these wild grapes on our farm in Lawrence County, MO. I was told by a local (I was not native to the area) that the grapes were sour until a hard frost came along, then they would turn sweet. This, she said, was why they were called "Possum Grapes," because they 'played possum' until a frost. My mother used them to make jams, jelly and wine. I even wrote a short story about a wine maker called "Possum Grape Wine." It is available on Blogspot.com under "Turner's Tidbits" There are several blogs under that heading so you must look for one that describes it as "Short stories by W. E. Turner."

Hello Everyone!)

Does anyone know where i can buy seeds of Possum Grape (Vitis Cinerea)?

Who can send approx 20-50 seeds of this Possum Grape Wine?

Will very appreciate your help)

I have never had a sour possum grape as long as they are ripe, great for wine and jelly

I'm looking for someone that has possum Grapevines growing wilwildly could possibly sale some?

LocateLocated in Ada, Oklahoma and happen to be on fixed income, hope someone can help,