Vitis mustangensis Buckley
Synonym: = Vitis candicans
Common name: Mustang grape
Location in Texas: C, E, & S TX; very common in Travis Co.
Form: vine, stems up to 50 ft. long; perennial.
Flowers: Apr-June (white, red).
ID: the leaves are highly variable in shape, from entire to dissected. The underside of the leaf is whitish with pubescence.
Experimentation
GATHERING
Grapes are produced in such vast abundance that they should be a staple for any forager. I have gathered as much as 5 gallons in less than 2 hours and can easily gather dozens of gallons in a given grape season. I am simply limited by how fast I can dry or preserve them.
Fences or similar structures overgrown with grape vines are ideal for gathering, as the usual challenge is being able to reach the grapes. Often, I can also find trees draped with grapevines that reach the ground. An intact forest (no open edges) is the most difficult place from which to gather grapes, as the fruiting vines tend to be far above one’s reach in the canopy. I tend to carry an 8 ft folding ladder around during grape season in order to extend my reach and do things like park my car under a vine and stand on top of it to gather grapes.
I prefer to pick entire clusters rather than one grape at a time, as it is more efficient and keeps the grapes intact, rather than splitting, as is common when trying to pull just one off.
Gathering Season – late summer.
EATING
Mustang grapes are sweet and delicious, but markedly sour. They can produce a burning sensation in the mouth and on the skin but are not harmful. Their sourness is improved by removing or spitting out the skins. When they are completely ripe, being a dark purple color, there is basically no burning sensation, and they are much sweeter and less sour, even compared to darker red or lighter purple ones that may look ripe at first glance.
The fruits are excellent fresh, dried, juiced, or as jelly or wine.
The leaves are tart and edible with a good taste, but any but the youngest leaves are too tough to eat entire without spitting out the cud. I have eaten them many times. The flower and fruit buds are edible and tasty, being similarly tart, but lack the toughness of the leaves. They make an excellent topping for salads.
DRYING
They can be sun-dried in a little over a week. You can make a platform using reed stems as the surface (since they improve airflow compared to a solid table). You can put them uncovered in direct sunlight, though a light smoky fire may be wanted in the first day to deter flies. Flies don’t really bother with them after a day or two of drying, and ants or birds do not seem very interested either. You can also cover them, or build a drying box put out in the sun.
You can also dry them in an oven at 140 degrees for 8-12 hours. I keep the oven door cracked to allow moisture to escape. I recommend oiling the pan thoroughly to prevent them sticking. About halfway through, I use a spatula to unstick them from the pan and stir them around for even drying.
The final product tends to be lighter and crispier than raisins from a store, which usually have sugars added in processing. The drying process removes any of the burning sensation associated with the fresh fruits, as well as some of the sour taste.
A benefit to oven-drying is that the seeds are roasted a bit so that they easily crunch up when eating them and they are hardly noticeable.
JUICING
You can preserve juice by mashing them, straining them, and boiling the juice with some sugar and canning it. This juice will keep unrefrigerated for a long time.
If you boil the grapes for juicing on a fire, imparts a bit of a smoky taste (that I like). You can obviously just do it on the stove, but I try to keep it primitive! One could use hot stones to boil in pottery or waterproof baskets, and baskets can serve as the only strainers.
For straining, I use a colander, then a basket, then a mesh bag. One could use metal screen mesh strainers, baskets, or fabric such as a cotton t-shirt.
I prefer boiling it down some and adding extra sugar to make a concentrate that I dilute before drinking at a ratio of 4 parts water to 1 part juice.
The juice is far superior to that produced by my store-bought juicing machine, which is also far more wasteful.
Note that the canning jars and lids need to be properly boiled to sterilize them. I boil them completely underwater for about 20 minutes and remove them with tongs.
WINE / JELLY
This base technique can easily adapt for jelly or wine with the addition of pectin or yeast. For jelly, add several tablespoons of pectin to the final boiling step, and more sugar may be desirable. For wine, add a packet of bread yeast you can get at any grocery store, then keep it in a vented container in a cool, dark place until it sufficiently ferments.
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