BEEKMANTOWN – Jacqueline Madison spent lazy days of summer not so lazy learning the art of canning from her grandparents in Darlington, S.C.
Eugene and Lizzie Mack owned a 70-acre self-sufficient farm, still in the family, where he took care of the crops and hogs, and she took care of the chickens, vegetable garden, fruit trees including fig and Concord grapes.
PURPLE PURSUITS
A dozen years ago, Madison planted the latter on her husband, Calvin, and her Beekmantown property.
“Initially, I planted four just to see if I can I grow them,” she said.
“I got them as a result of going to Lowes. They actually had the plants there. I came home and planted them. They all took off. They started to grow. Then, one died the next year. I ended up with just the three plants.”
It took three years to get her first crop of grapes, and she didn't get many. Enough to can six to eight half pints of jam.
“The next year though, we had a lot of rain that summer,” she said.
“That's when I learned grapes really like water. We ended up with so many grapes, enough to fill a large trashcan. We try to keep them well-watered. This year, we had a fair amount of rain, and we ended up with about a bushel and half.”
Her three plants appear to be triple that in her garden.
“It's because the vines really grow,” she said.
“This is all an amateur thing for me. My husband said I should have planted them south to north. I planted them east to west.”
Madison struggles with keeping the vines up off the ground initially, until she found a DIY tip using concrete grates for trellises.
“I have to add another one,” she said.
“Every winter, I prune them to keep them under control. They still grow beyond my imagination.”
Fertilizer and ash augments the soil in the vineyard.
“The area that they're growing in is really dark soil,” she said.
“Kind of like what you see when you're buying potting soil. I got them in a good area. They do get a lot of sunlight. There aren't many trees that would block any of the sunlight around them.”
HOME TRAINING
Madison was fascinated with how to produce wine and canning.
“My grandmother canned almost everything,” she said.
“She had pears, peaches, apples, all kinds of vegetable. She had wild grapes. She would can all of that. She knew a lot about plants. She knew how to go out and pick the ones when they were ready.”
Madison likes red wine, and she thinks it has medicinal properties that helps the body.
“Part of it was also the fact that it was the only alcohol that my grandmother thought was appropriate to drink,” she said.
“It's also part of the religion thing, too. She only kept a couple of bottles. She didn't keep a lot of that around the house.”
APPLIED CHEMISTRY
Madison majored in chemistry at Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.
She is a retired Wyeth informational toxicology specialist.
“I had chemistry teachers that talked about that chemistry is not just in the lab but in what we eat,” Madison said.
“I don't think a lot of people think about that. One day I was thinking, I need to take my chemistry background and put it to use and to benefit myself in some way.”
Her grape exploration allows her to do just that.
“The pH has to be just right,” she said.
“You have to think about the sweetness of it. There is some chemistry associated with it. I said I will see what happens. I'll see if I can grow these grapes and ten years later they have been blossoming. These three, they've just taken over that garden. The garden initially was supposed to be vegetables and the grapes. They've taken over that whole section. It's their home now.”
OCTOBERFEST
Wine ferments in the basement.
“It's much more potent,” she said.
Madison is going to check her alcohol content this year.
“I can tell you where you might drink two or three glasses of store bought wine, you will probably drink one and you can go to bed. If you want a nightcap and make sure you sleep, you drink this.”
Madison canned 12 jars of grape jam.
She has also put up applesauce and corn and is planning on canning some green beans.
“My grandmother would be very proud to know I did all this stuff when she was trying to teach me and I wasn't paying attention,” Madison said.
“Now that she's gone, at least she can say I did get some of it.”
Email Robin Caudell:
Twitter:@RobinCaudell
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