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Hi

We went for a walk today and in a very shady spot I found a vine which looked like a grapevine. There didn't appear to be any grapes on it and I couldn't see the little tendrils hanging down. The shape of the leaf though appears right for grapevine. It felt a bit prickly/thorny on the back of the leaf. Now if I could only work out how to post photos from my IPhone! I would love to make some dolmades. Does it sound likely?

Karen

I have attempted to load onto photobucket whilst walking round with son who won't sleep. Here goes.

http://m1198.photobucket.com/linkcodes/ ... 8TxJnmekz5

Well, it looks like a grapevine leaf to me - but then I don't know that much about identification of vines. On the other hand, it seems an odd thing to find in the middle of nowhere.

Mike

It was near a touristy spot with hotels and very expensive holiday homes. Had a view of a Ferrari whilst picking. Honestly we seriously lowered the tone lol.

I was shown a grape vine growing wild (or at least feral) on the south coast of Ireland a few years back, so it's not completely impossible.

That leaf looks grape-vine-like to me, certainly, but I'd try for more reliable identification before eating it. If you can get a picture of the plant in situ, then someone might be able to have a better guess at it?

It looks like it, but a pic of the plant, as Drew says, would help. I've found grape vines in the past. They do self-seed and the birds help. The only thing that makes me worry is the lack of grapes. It should have some by this time of year. Zoe

MClan wrote:Hi

We went for a walk today and in a very shady spot I found a vine which looked like a grapevine. There didn't appear to be any grapes on it and I couldn't see the little tendrils hanging down. The shape of the leaf though appears right for grapevine. It felt a bit prickly/thorny on the back of the leaf. Now if I could only work out how to post photos from my IPhone! I would love to make some dolmades. Does it sound likely?

Karen

I don't know much about identification, but my parents have a grapevine in their garden. There's no grapes on it, but I love dolmades...do you have a good recipe or know how to prepare the leaves? The receipes I've come across use ready-preserved leaves.

What a great idea - my neighbour has a grapevine (complete with grapes) overhanging my garden. I hadn't considered dolmades but do like them. I too would love to know how to make them and what to do with underipe grapes too.

JuzaMum