A rare treat I discovered here in Georgia is the Scuppernong, a green grape indigenous to the southern states of America. First discovered by Giovanni de Verrazzano in 1524, these bulbous fruit are a bronze variety of the Muscadine family. They have a thick skin with a texture I’ve never really experienced before; people have evolved different approaches to eating them.
Scuppernong Grapes
I stumbled upon them in the Dekalb Farmers Market in Decatur, which has the largest selection of produce I’ve ever seen assembled in one place. There was a small display of Scuppernongs and Muscadines next to the rest of the grapes, which I wouldn’t have noticed except for two or three shrieks by fellow shoppers when the local grapes were available. I was about to go for the standard Muscadine when a woman picked up two or three of the broze variety and told her friend that the Scuppernongs were riper and sweeter this early in the season. Can’t argue with that.
My friend Zach says that hicks in the south drink Muscadine wine, and are commonly seen foraging by the roadside for fresh ones. Sounds like a likely story, but I can’t seem to find anything on the web about the hillbilly’s affection for this grape. And of course if it’s not on the web, it’s not true.
overstated 
I sure do miss the Dekalb Farmers Market! Have you tried any of their breads? Good stuff. And
the cafe there is good for some cheap eats.
Growing up in the South, I know there definitely is such a thing as muscadine wine. http://www.ncwine.org/muscadinepage.htm
I am almost positive you can buy yourself a bottle at the Farmer’s Market.
Scuppernongs vines grow wild throughout my property. Glad to see them get their due.
I’m from Northern Maryland and I’ve never heard of a scuppernongs until one of my co-workers (who’s from the Carolinas) brought me some to work and they are delicious!!!!!
I’m still trying to figure out what I can compare the taste to but I guess it has a taste of it’s own.
WELL, IT HAS TAKEN ME A WHILE TO FIND ANYTHING ABOUT SCUPPERMONGS.. MY AUNT IN ALABAMA HAS BEEN TALKING ABOUT THEM FOR SO LONG TO ME BUT SHE WAS PRONOUNCING IT “SCUFFANONS” SO I HAD A HARD TIME FINDING THEM ON THE WEB. BUT SHE MAKES THE BEST JELLY AND WINE OUT OF THESE THINGS..
I AM FROM TEXAS AND DID NOT KNOW WHAT THEY WERE BUT THEY ARE DELICIOUS.
LOIS
Guys, give the southern grape a break. They are delicious and make an excellent wine. In fact I have about 25 gal. fermenting as we speak.
There used to be a winery about 15 miles from my house which made Wild Irish Rose from scuppernongs and at times sold excess juice form the grapes to wineries from CA. How does that strike you? They would use the scuppernong juice to mix with their juices. Uh, I guess we never know what is the thing we eat or drink.
I want to buy a crate of these grapes. How can I have them shipped to NYC?
Sorry, but it might be alittle to late to buy scups this year. At least in my area, they have all but played out.
However, their are some farms that might have some left. Try the web for scuppernong farms.
lee
Wow martha, that recipe was just delightful. Never tasted a better scuppernog cream tart in my life.
You sure are welcome Dorris. It was my pleasure to provide you with the recipe, it has been a favorite in my family for over 60 years!
Sixty years?! Oh my. It sure was a great recipe though to have been passed down so much
Yes, it has been. My great-great grandmother, Susan-Joe came up with the recipe when she was a new bride
Growing up in Alabama I remember a fruit that had a purplish colorful flower and a pod full of seeds coated with fruit. It grew across the ground. Can anybody tell me what it was?
Sounds like what we called a Maypop. When the fruit would ripen, we would suck on the twangy seeds and pulp. If you threw the fruit against something, it sometimes would – pop. Many people re refer to the flower as the passion flower.
I’m reading “To Kill A Mockingbird” and they made reference to scuppernongs . I had never heard of them before. Am planning a trip to Georgia in April. Will they be available there thattime of year?
Scuppernongs will not begin to ripen until August or September.
The Habersham Winery in Georgia makes Muscadine Wine that tastes just like ‘walking through the woods in late August and picking muscadines off the vine’ It is called ‘White Muscadine’
Unfortunately, I moved to Texas 2 years ago and they cannot ship West of the Mississippi.
Haven’t found any muscadine wine here in TX yet, but I hear that the Piney Woods Winery makes it. Am planning to contact them to try it out – but, I can’t believe I will find one that tastes so much like the fresh muscadines.
Also, scuppernongs and muscadines taste the same, just that the scuppernongs are a little sweeter and usually larger. Same flavor though.
wha does these ding do??? wha is so interestin`?
for skool im readin` to kill a mockingbird and i dont understand y scuppernongs r so important in it??
Scuppernongs are a food that southerners eat regularly. That is why Harper Lee mentions them in “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I also think that they were food that the people could aford (during the depression).
I have also heard scuppernongs referred to as bulleses of bullises (not sure of the spelling or if there is such a word). Anyway in my part of Georgia they scuppernongs were often called by this name.
Just bought some scuppernong jelly in Baton Rouge on a recent visit to Louisiana, I live in Los Angeles, but grew up in Ireland and only having heard the exotic name through reading “To Kill a Mocking bird ” I quickly snapped up a few jars to send home.
Thanks for posting the photo, I never knew what they looked like but my printout will quickly follow the jelly to Eire.
there are six vineyards(wineries) in alabama, all making several types of muscadine wines. (there are app. 75 varieties of the fruit) for more info check out muscadine.com.
I am from Tennessee in the mountians around Sewanee and my best memories are with my grandfather on the side of the road picking muscadines and scuppernongs to eat later while fresh. they grow wild so i would suppose they would be a hot item during a depression. I live in NYC now and can occasionally get some at Youngs Market on Nassau Street in the Greenpoint area of Brooklyn. They are definitely worth the trip Also, one should never refrigerate them They are so wonderful just off the vine.
I am now eating a large, sweet, juicy scuppernong and a muscadine which I bought yesterday at a
fruit stand here in Mobile, Al. They cost $1.99
per pound and I put them in the refrigerator yesterday. They are very good eaten cold. I’m saving the seeds to plant for next year. My first
taste of a scuppernong and muscadine was when my
father and I were fishing on the Mobile River in
the Mobile-Tensaw Delta in a small wooden boat
around 1959 or 60. They were growing wild along
the river banks and my dad referred to them as
bulleses. Since our olfactory and taste receptors
are located right next to the area for memory in
our brains, every time I eat a scuppernong, I’m
back in 1959 on Mobile River with my Dad. They are
not only the most unusual tasting wild grapes, but
each one is chocked full of memories!!
We have just received our first load of Scuppernongs and Muscadines from the south, these two varieties along with the Italia and Concord have to be some of the most flavorful varieties grown today. We wish the american public in the north would understand that grapes do not have to be seedless!!! Excellent grapes though and cant wait for them to come into full harvest once again!!
We are similar to Dekalb market in that we carry some 400 varieties of fresh fruits and vegetables in season in the Chicago area.
Stumbled upon this page when browsing the net, trying to find out just exactly what a “scuppernong” is. I’ve been reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” in class and was given the task of creating a glossary of colloquialisms… seems i can’t add this word, now that i know it’s a real fruit, and not just slang… dang
Oh I love them. My grandparents have a small vine in their back yard. I’ll pick them off and eat them right there. The darker they are they better, just bite the skin, “sift” out the seeds… I must admit it has the texure of phlegm, but it’s not that bad.
Scuppernongs are great
I love them
I eat them regularly
If anything new is discovered about them please contact me on the address above ^
Woo scuppernongs!!
im doing a report on scuppernongs and i cant figure out how to make them into jelly.
I was born in Metter Ga and my Grandaddy had a muscadine arbor in the back yard. This was a great place for a little boy to play on a hot summer day and the jelly was delicious. When I moved to Texas I found a wild grape Texans call a Mustang grape. It turns a deep purple or black in the fall. It is also good and makes great jelly. BTW make the jelly just like grape jelly. Make a small batch first to get the sugar right then get to it.
Like a couple other people here, I had read To Kill a Mockingbird and — being a Yankee — had no idea what scuppenongs were. Now I know!
I live in the piedmont of North Carolina, and I think that the great allure of the scuppernong must have started from someone walking through the woods in late summer and catching the alluring scent of ripe scuppernongs in the air and wondering what in the world it was! If you ever have that experience, you will never forget it. I still search for a whiff of that beautiful aroma whenever I get the chance. It’s one of the great pleasures of living in this part of the world.
I saw a mention of a recipe for scuppernog cream tarts on this board, but the recipe wasn’t there. Does anyone have it, please.
Thanks!
Ruth Ann – one of the country hicks who loves scuppernogs and muscadine wine…….
One of my entries on my new (and first time go at it) blog just happened to be about muscadines.
Thought you might get a chuckle out of it. Now, I think I’ll go and enjoy some more of your blog.
One of my entries on my new (and first time go at it) blog just happened to be about muscadines.
Thought you might get a chuckle out of it. Now, I think I’ll go and enjoy some more of your blog.
Like many of your contributors, I have just finished reading “To kill a Mocking Bird” and I just had to look up on the internet to find out what was a Scuppernong. I’m so sorry I live in England because having read the previous discriptions of other internet browsers, I can only imagine what they taste like. I feel I am missing out on a real treat! It is such an unusual name I thought it was made up, like something out of Roald Dahl’s book, The Big Friendly Giant.
My mother introduced the Scuppernongs to me. She pronounced them “scuppanons” and I would describe them as delicious and TART. I once visited Athens, GA and saw them growing out in the woods, and my hosts referred to them as Musket Irons. We live in Tidewater VA
In 1995 I was on a two weeks assignment in Perry County, Mississippi. The locals were selling scuppernongs alone the roadside. We bought two pounds the first day and they were so delicious, we stopped at one almost everday. I ask the fruit stand mgr if they would grow in my home State Maryland and he said they should. I ask if he would send me a plant during planting time he said that he would send me one that winter, and he did. I planted it and it grow very slow for the first four years, then it took-off growing to the size it is today (12′ X 22′ and 6′ high). We keep it trim back each year. This year it did it best of all times. We picked a total of 62 pounds this month (it was loaded) and there are a few still on the vine. We are now in the process of making wine for the first time.
We spend a lots of time developing this vine i.e., installing the overhead rack for the vines to grow on.
I live in Southern Alabama and just finished making my first batch of scuppernong and muscadine wine. I made 10 gallons of each. They are both dry wines, yet the white has the flavor of eating the grape from the vine. Full flavor! Absolutely terrific. I waited to pick the scuppernongs till they were pink in color and ripe to their fullest.
I grew up in the Carolinas and we always had wild scuppernong vines behind our house. When they turned that rich golden color, it was gorge the belly time. No, I can’t compare their taste to anything else either. They’re wonderful and now, living in Florida, I miss that treat terribly. And yes, people did make wine from them, and not the hillbillies, either:-)
Reading to Kill a Mockingbird
Glad to know what scuppernongs are. Only sorry that I shall not be likely to ever taste them – fresh or as a jelly or tart. Wales is just a little too far
Does anybody know of any books on making scuppernong wine?
Does anybody know of any books on making scuppernong wine?
We own a chalet in E Tennessee that we rent to large groups. We have a very large,overgrown scuppernong that is mixed w/blackberries & elderberries. This was our first fall here,and fruit production seemed low. I would like to cut this bramble back and shape it onto a trellis to create an outdoor sitting area for our guests. I would also like to increase the fruit production. I have no clue how to do this. Any suggestions? Happy New Year, and thanks!
My father in law grows scuppernongs and had asked
me to search and see if someone could tell me the proper fertilizer to use on these vines? someone please respond
My father in law grows scuppernongs, and had asked
me to search, and see if someone could tell me the proper fertilizer ,to use, on these vines? someone please respond/
I would love to have the recipe for “Scuppernog Cream Tarts”. The owner is Martha d Seldy, statement on Nov 20,2003. If anyone has this recipe I would love to have it.
Thank You,
Helen
i am about to start reading “to kill a mockingbird” at school. our teacher made us each research something from the book(even though we havent read it) so i got scuppernongs and collard greens-does anyone know how people eat them? or fix them? i need help!!!
I have 2 scuppernongs and 2 myscadine vines which will fruit this year for the 2nd year. Last year all the crop matured, but most of them dropped to the ground before they ripened. I really would like a lot of them this year. love them and so does my hubby. Any ideas from all you good gardening experts? Loved the photo, I like scuppernongs better than muscadines, Flavor is sweeter and the hull isn’t as tough, although I enjoy eating the hulls as well.
“Your friend Zach’s” reference to the fondness of southern “hicks” for muscadine wine caught my attention. I know of many southern folks who love muscadine wine, blacks and whites alike. Zach might consider them hicks, but i’d venture that many of them are “better read,” and likely have a higher IQ, better vocabulary, keener cosmological insight, and amore profound and ecologically-sound land ethic and worldview than him. Many of them are academics — holding MDs, PhDs, or other post-graduate university degrees. Count me as one. I reckon i might be considered a Hillbilly, Cracker, or Redneck, but i ain’t [sic] a hick. Being raised at the cultural and ecological nexus of the South (85 degrees N/34 degrees South), where Scots-Irish Applachia abuts the Deep South, I have always found it ironic when folks who have an exagerrated sense of worth and self-savoir faire ridicule others. An example — an ignorant person like Zach might consider someone like me a “hick” if i used the word “yonder” (and i do) — being clueless of the etymology of the term in Middle English. I advise such cretins to check out the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet (that’s a play by Shakespeare, Zach). BTW: I grew up calling scuppernongs “scuppydines.” BTW2: The South has produced lots of so-called hicks, viz., Faulkner (Pulitzer), E.O. Wilson (Harvard), George Washington Carver et al.
I just wanted to post an excerpt from some reminiscences we found on my dad’s computer after he died. I hope they have scupperonong arbors in heaven…
“As for the scuppernong arbor, Frank and I loved to climb on top when they were ripe and lay back eating the grapes.”
I have about 25 plants growing now an cant wait until august an sept. my wife can eat all i have they are delicious . i lived in lithoni ga. 30 years an had 50 vines there an let any one that wanted them have all they wanted
B.R.
I’ve been looking for scuppernong grapes since I started teaching the novel “To Kill a Mockingbird” in 1976. In the ovel the children are told not to climb Miss Maudie’s scuppernong arbor. The closest I’ve been able to find is scuppernong wine (which is not suitable for a tasting party held for high school sophomores). Galbet
I have been looking for scuppernongs since 1976 when I started teaching “To Kill a Mockingbird.” In the novel the children are told not to climb Miss Maudie’s scuppernong arbor. The closest I’ve been able to find is scuppernong wine which is not suitable for a sophomore class tasting party.
Galbert
How do I plant these vines?
does anyone know of a website that sells the grape vines. i loved them but now live on the other ocean and so of course can’t find them i would love to try to grow them, if even just in a pot.
I just discovered scuppernogs while vacationing in the FL panhandle. I cannot believe how good they are. I will be looking for ways to get some here in Central FL. The remind me of the fragrant flavor of concord grapes when I was a child, only much sweeter.
I bought a house with scuppernong vines on a half acre and have just started my harvest. Was told to pick when soft yet still gold and dusty.Hope that was good advice. I will let you know how the wine is in November.
I love them n would love some of the wine pls let me know..
Does anyone know who will ship scuppernogs to Pennsylvania?
Christina,
I have a scuppernong vineyard in south Alabama. I would consider shipping. Please contact me at helen@oldcrowe.com
Thanks.
I recommend Carlos White Muscadine from Chautaugua Vineyards near DeFuniak Springs in the Panhandle of Florida. I will refrain from commentary on how some, who consider themselves sophisticates, betray themselves as narrow and provincial when the subject is Southern custom and culture.
Sorry, y’all. That’s “Chautauqua” with a “q”. That’s what I get for repressing my pique.
Scuppernongs a/k/a Georgia Bullets I got turned on to these grapes by a Co-worker back in 1987.And yes! They told me their Dad makes a great wine with them however I’m not a wine drinker.I love the Georgia Bullets sadly they come around on occassion not year round and down here in Miami there about $5.00 @ Publix.
Is there a place to buy scuppernong juice in Alabama?
Dear Zach,
This southern hick and connoisseur of scuppernongs has written a poem in sonnet style out of reverence to the native grape. You can read it on kozachekart.blogspot.com “Ode to the Scuppernong”
If anyone is interested in Suppernong vines, I have a yard full (it is kind of like kudzu & can get out of control easily) and will gladly find some runners for you and ship out if you are willing to pay the cost of shipping.
If you are interested,just email me at asb.immortality@gmail.com
I grew up in NYC, but my mother was from North Carolina, We spend many summers there, and I have a vivid memory of her getting all excited that we were there at scuppernong time: We drove down a winding dirt road pm Grandfather’s farm and stopped at a fairly nondescript spot, but in the tangle of overgrowth there was an ancient grape arbor, covered in vines, that Mom remembered from her girlhood. You could smell the ripened grapes in the warm breeze, and there is no way I can describe the taste or the smell, except to say that it’s one of those smells that makes you just float away in ecstasy. We spend the afternoon picking grapes and eating them, warm from the sun and so sweet and tender, and Mom, normally a bit reserved and severe, thawed in the Carolina sun as we shared a ritual of her girlhood. We picked a bucketful for my grandmother and brought them home to her, but nothing beat the taste of the grapes right from the vine, golden and warm, and sweetened with memories.
I always wondered about scuppernong wine from reading the book “The Old Man And The Boy” It followed them on their travells and adventures thru the carolina’s. Mention of sweet delicious scuppernong wine ran thru out the book. Well much to my delight I found a bottle of scuppernong wine while visiting the outerbanks of north carolina. It was simply wonderful. delicious. I think I want to find more bottles to make a good sangria with the suppernong wine as the base. Anyway over and out from NYC.
Just a tip: here in Georgia they are pronounced “SKUP-nuns”. They grow wild, or people have a vine in their back yard. You can get them at most farmers markets at the right time of year.
We mostly just eat them plain. Now, for muscadines (their relative), my aunt makes a delicious cobbler!
When do they rippen?y are still very hard.
I live in MS and the way we pronounce them is scuppie-nons.My grandmother would make a pie from ones growing in her backyard.She would juice them in a colender and add sugar.She would then make homemade yeast roll dough.On the bottom of a deep metal pan(about 4″) she would place small bisket size dumplins of roll dough.Add the juice then place strips of dough on top then bake.When you get ready to serve add a big dollop of butter and enjoy.
There are two types of the wild purple/black muscadines that grow wild here in Alabama, the
larger ones we always referred to as Mucadines,
and the much smaller berry are referred to as
Fox grapes and are much sweeter than the larger
berry.We grow both of the tame varieties of
muscadines in our yard, being the blue/back we
refer to as muscadines and the bronze colored
berries as scuppernongs and somewhat sweeter.
They are just great to pull from the vines and
eat, we’ve made lots of jelly that’s really
good on those hot biscuits in the mornings, or
you can make some of the best tasting wine that
you will ever find,it’s out of this world and
may I add that my Morgan Horses said they prefer
them right off the vine.If you’ve never eaten the
fruit, just don’t know what you’re missing !!
Oh yes, when purchasing the the vines, there are
(several) different variesties of the dark & bronz
so besure to check. ENJOY
P.Weaver
I live in NW Ga and started growing muscadines three years ago because I really enjoyed the scuppernongs and the wine that my mother made years ago.
Muscadines can be black, white or red. They can be self fertile or female. One of the white muscadines, Scuppernong, was discovered, growing on the banks of the Scuppernong river in N.C. centuries ago, is female and needs a self fertile variety in close proximity to really produce a large crop. Also, the Scuppernong, medium size, has about 17% sugar content.
Even though I am a Ga Tech Grad, The University of Ga has an excellent site regarding culture.
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/L225-w.html
I have Scuppernong, Carlos, Fry, and Cowart.
My two Concord grape vines would have yielded fruit but the drought just dried them up. The wasps and bees loved them.
The watering restriction didn’t allow my grapes nor the blueberries to do much except to survive.
My advise to potential growers:
Use wires that are stong enough to support heavy vines. I must soon install steel to replace large aluminum clothes wire. The aluminum has stretched and sags.
If I had a sunny patio, I would erect an arbor over it. I would use Fry muscadines( large, self fertile, and reasonably high sugar.).
The birds, bees, and wasps will love you.
John
Wow, I can’t believe I have never heard of this amazing fruit before! I, too, am reading To Kill A Mockingbird and had to look up what they were talking about. Being a native Nevadan (where hardly anything grows lol), of course I wouldn’t have heard of it. Does anyone know if they would grow out here? Now I’m really intrigued haha
I need help! For my English class we have to make scuppernong juice since we read the book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’. I need either scuppernongs or muscadines. Does anyone know where to find them? In central florida? HELP!!!!
There is definitely a muscadine wine available in most grocery stores. I’ve sold many a case. The grapes are plentiful this year, but the birds, raccoons, possums, and squirrels will probably get them before I can. They will probably ripen in Sept. and Oct.
We have bought property in Middle Ga and one Large spot is cover with these muscadine vines. How do I know which type we have or if they are male or female
Had a great time reading through your blog – searching to find out if anyone knew how to tell if the vine is male or female? Funny though, I am a Florida Native and have been eating scuppernongs a.k.a. muscadines since I can remember, so I figured I would post my piece. Grew up right here in Central Florida (in the part still considered Southern by the natives) in Seminole County near Oviedo, Chuluota and Geneva (try the local farmers markets on Saturdays for some scuppernongs/muscadines) but my family is from Okeechobee (another Southern town) where some of the best scuppernongs you’ll ever eat grow. We didn’t plant them, maybe someone in the family did (family’s lived on this land for over 100 years), and we pick them fresh every season. I can remember when I was a child spending hours outside playing and picking for a mid-late day treat! They taste amazing and I truly feel for those who have never had the opportunity to taste them! You can make jelly, wine, pies, tarts…I prefer them fresh off the vine. If you would really like to grow them here in Central Florida you can find them at Lukas Nursery or South Seminole Farm & Nursery (I think a 1 gallon pot is $2). I did a cutting of the one at my Popa’s and just hope that it gets as big as the one at his house! Now, if I could just figure out if the piece I got is a male or female… Good Luck Ya’ll!
There is a replica of a scuppernong arbor in the 1956 b/w film version of “The Bad Seed.” Little Rhoda Penmark tells her mother that she is going to play with her tea set under the scuppernong arbor in the backyard.
Frank Thompson
Ruidoso, New Mexico
As a boy in Alabama in the 50’s and 60’s I was very familiar with scuppernongs (which we pronounced SCUP-pa-nogs) and muscadines (MUS-kee-DINES). Scuppernongs were about the size of a quarter or a little larger; muscadines about the size of a dime. Both were very sweet on first bite, and scuppernongs had a very thick and tough-ish skin. The meat of the scuppernong was slick and wet but chewy, almost the consistency of a raw oyster but a tad tougher. Muscadines meat was a little less tough. The skin of both could be bitter if chewed, and it was best to spit it out as soon as you had popped open the juicy globes in your mouth.
While not a wild grape, the persimmon (pur-SIMM-mun) was a common but odd wild fruit. If you are not familiar with it, when fully ripe the persimmon had a very sweet taste but the texture of its flesh, dry and firm, was unlike any other I can recall ever having encountered. Care had to be taken not to bite into an unripe persimmon, as it will draw your mouth up like a mouthful of alum for several minutes. While the wild grape vines are still very common in Alabama, today I do not see nearly as many persimmon trees as 50 years ago, certainly not with trunks of more than 6-10 inches diameter. Of course, until metal-head drivers and fairway woods took over, persimmon was very desired by golfers due to its extreme hardness. I’m told that Japanese industrialists still greatly prize persimmon wood for use in their golf clubs, and perhaps that, along with the continuing deforestation of the state, accounts for the fruit tree’s scarcity.
Another very common sweet and juicy edible plant in ALabama was ribbon cane, a variety opf sugar cane. I had always assumed ribbon cane to be native to the region, but I think it originated in South Asia, and was brought to the New World by Columbus!
Regardless it was wonderful, refreshing treat on hot summer days. A 5-foot stalk of ribbon cane, an inch or so in diameter, would provide sweet juicy refreshment for several thirty boys. With a knife you’d peel away the tough, woody cover of the stalk of a couple of inches, cut it off and pop in your mouth to be sucked on and chewed (without swallowing the woody, stringy pulp which was left!) to get all the sweet juice hiding there. It was a close relative of bamboo, and unsurprisingly had a consistency like those shoots, except inedible.
Blackberries were the most commonly encountered Alabama wild fruit, but probably the most dangerous to gather (along with ribbon cane), since the close-growing thorny bushes often were spots which poisonous snakes loved to hang out in.
I can’t close without a word about Polk Salad (also known as “polk salad”, “poke salad”, “poke salat”, “pokeweed”, etc). This is a tall, green stalk-like plant with many large green leaves when young, which turn deep red when fully matured. It is an extremely colorful plant which grows almost anywhere in the South, even in urban areas like alleyways and untended lots. The plant produces numerous clusters of small indigo-colored berries, which when burst produce a deep-purple juice that stains the skin for days and clothing virtually forever.
Polk Salad gained a reputation in the Great Depression as the food of the poorest of the poor in the South. And so it is, for only those who have no other option will run the risk of eating its poisonous leaves (thus the “polk salat” or “salad”). Every part of the pokeweed is poisonous, but the leaves can be made tolerably edible if they are cooked at least twice, three times optimally, and discarding the cooking water each time. Presumably the last cooking includes “white meat”, which would result in cooked green resembling, at least in appearance, turnip or collard greens.
.) This is the right blog for anyone who wants to find out about this topic. You realize so much its almost hard to argue with you (not that I actually would want…HaHa). You definitely put a new spin on a topic thats been written about for years. Great stuff, just great!
Ah, I’m got fond memories of pickin’ and eatin’ wild and cultivated scuppernongs in the town of Niceville, FL where I grew up. My dad and I would ride bikes around the neighborhoods in Bluewater and he’d point out the wild vines and we’d stop and eat a few and them move on. Or, I’d go to my great-grandmother’s house next to Boggy Bayou where she had a scuppernong vine growing in her yard. It was always a rush to pick the ripe ones before the birds and squirrels would get to them. I’m now in Tampa, but I can still find some them in the grocery store starting each August (just finished off a handful from my first bunch of the year). Though, these cultivated grapes are not nearly as sweet, nor are their skins nearly as thin, as the ones I grew up eating.
I just spent the weekend in South Alabama and Northwest FL…and gave my 13 year old daughter a lesson in Scuppernongs. We came home with 4 gallons of delicious fruit. Now I will be making my first batch of scuppernong wine.
Sorry folks, there ain’t no hillbillys down here in the South. Got some rednecks and other types, but ain’t seen no hillbillys!
I live in central Georgia and have three 30ft. rows(vines) with 3 different varieties. They are all loaded this season. In fact I’m eating them as I write this. Around here they are often called “scupplins”.
I have a friend who says that scuppernongs can be purchased at some market up in the Hudson River Valley near Peekskill. Anyone interested, I will find out just where.