I don't know the first thing about VC that is why I was snooping around here today. Funny thing that caused me to do this is that about 1 month ago I too had about 20 pounds of grape must. I dug a hole in my raised bed & threw the musts in there & covered with soil. This particular area stays fairly wet as I am always dumping my dog's water bowl in there 3 times per day. Yesterday I was getting the bed ready for winter veggies & when I dug up the area where the grape musts were buried WOW! worms! hundreds of them in just one shovel turn. They were red in color. I quickly turned them back over to the way they were. I figured they must be good for the soil. Hence my sudden interest in worm composting.

How did you do with those zinfindel vines? Did it take a good 2-3 years to get them up and coming? What is the yield per grapevine? I am just DYING to add a bunch of concord grapevines to my suburban 'FARM" along with with the rest of the stuff i grow here, but i am hesitant, as i fear they will freeze over the harsh winters here in chicago..they are not CHEAP to buy.. Who in zone 5 has a good grape crop? r.

Looking for red wine grape cuttings. Good for at least Zone 6. New varieties are strongly favored, such as Marquette etc.

That sound delicious. :) You didn't say for how many people or how big your chill bowl is. --My mind also went right to buffet when I wrote this up!-- If it's for a manageable number and you have the dishes to do it, what I'd do is fill a nice looking pan, a big stoneware lasagna would be ideal, but even a stainless roaster would work. Find (or make with a utility knife and packing tape) a cardboard box that it fits into fairly snugly. Just an inch or two around. Line the box with plastic bags or waxed paper. Cover the outside with wrapping paper, or maybe a small holiday tablecloth, if you have one sitting around, but paper is easier because you can tape it in place. Day of, spray a beach towel that goes with the table decor with water to just damp, and put in the freezer for several hours. Chill the pan as well. Line the box with the towel, including up the sides and set the pan inside, arranging the towel nicely around it. Fill the pan with big ice cubes (they melt slower). Then I'd put the frozen grapes in small, chilled vessels in the pan. The vessels could be anything from shot glasses to small custard dishes to stubby martini glasses, if you don't have tasting bowls. There are plenty of disposables, both the washable ones and one use kind, that would work. If you have space, you can put extra "shots" in the freezer ready to refill the server, but it would also be easy enough to make up more on the fly. Now that I've realized you didn't say "buffet", if you have room in the freezer for it, you can do the same thing with the cups on a flat tray during a lull in your prep time, and put them in the freezer. Otherwise, just chill the vessels, add the grapes and serve around from a tray, and maybe put the extras in your chill bowl to look good on the table and provide refills. Anyway, that's what I'd do. :)