In our New Zealand garden we used to have a lot of grapes growing from our neighbour’s vine over our garden fence. They were delicious but they did have a lot of pips and hard skins. The constant spitting we had to do when eating these was going on your nerves after a while. It also wasn’t very pleasant for others to watch. So we decided to make some grape juice. We had made grape juice before by boiling the grapes in a large pot. However, it seemed a shame to me to boil these beautiful fresh and juicy grapes. I remembered that people used to make wine by ‘grape stomping’. Basically, they put the grapes in big barrels and stomped around on them with their feet for a while.
We decided to give this method a go.
1. Grape Stomping in plastic buckets
We had two big buckets. One we filled with freshly picked grapes. In the other one we poured water to wash our feet before stepping into the grape bucket. We were all very excited by the squishy feeling of the grapes under our feet.
Ayla was definitely the most persevering grape-stomper. Kyra found it difficult to stay in the bucket for longer than a minute. We all took turns to stomp around on the grapes until all the grapes where crushed. This took at least 15 minutes.
2. Making juice by straining the crushed grapes through a cheese cloth
Then we poured the grape mush through a cheese cloth into a jug.
We had to give it a very good stir and squeeze to get all the liquid through the cloth.
3. Time to enjoy the delicious fresh grape juice
One hour later we were all finished. Absolutely delicious!!! Finally we could enjoy our grapes without any spitting.
This was such a fun and educational activity for the kids on so many levels. It covered the whole experience of harvesting food and transforming it into an altered food substance. It was also a highly sensory activity. Feeling the grapes squish between our toes and ultimately turning into a big juicy mush. Also we learned that preparing food with your hands is not the only way. You can also do it with your feet. Did you know that?
Maybe you would like to try making juice with your feet but you don’t have a grapevine in your garden? You could try to purchase some from a local vineyard (if you live in a wine region). Another option would be to buy some cheap ones from a green grocers or supermarket.
