Mary Poser
This was quite a year for the Franciscan grape crop. In early spring (April and May) the grapes were pruned back and tied up to the arbor for support. This year we had wood chips from the trees that were removed from campus and grass clippings to help keep the weeds down. This also helped hold in the moisture for the grapes. In June and July the long runners were pruned back so that the energy would go towards producing full, plump, sweet grapes. Watering is essential, but this year there was a lot of rain so manual watering wasn’t needed as much.
The grapes were plentiful, so in late August and early September it was clear they needed to get picked. My husband Sev and I started picking and encouraged anyone who wanted to go out and pick the grapes to do so. I steamed and canned 60 quarts and 36 pints of juice. And we really couldn’t even tell where we had picked!
It was clear that more people were needed to pick so that the grapes wouldn’t go to waste. I reached out to my brother Frank Athman (who was instrumental in building the arbor in 2017) to see if he knew of anyone who wanted grapes and could come and pick ASAP. He contacted two families. Elizabeth Baert and her children, Evangeline, Sebastian, Sean and Aloysiuos, came and picked on Saturday, September 14. On Tuesday the 17th, the Wurzer family of Alex, Brittney and three of their seven children, Stephen, Caleb and Desmond came. Both families were very grateful to have had the opportunity to pick the Franciscan grapes. And I will continue to bring the grape juice and jelly to the mailroom to share with the sisters and staff!
