From growing muscadines and scuppernongs to enjoying their juicy goodness raw or in jams and pies, the fruit is distinctly Southern.

For more than 20 years, Charlotte Castleberry has lovingly tended to both her muscadines and scuppernong vines and enjoyed the fresh-picked taste.

"The plants are from my father-in-law, and he taught me how to plant them and cut them back," said Castleberry, who prefers the taste of scuppernongs. "It is tangy but it has a bite to it also; you can't describe it."

These relatives of the grape family grow on vines across the South, and childhood memories for many include picking them fresh off the vine after coming home from school. This time of year, scuppernongs and muscadines are ripening for eating or jellymaking.

The difference between muscadines and scuppernongs is color and flavor. The purple-hued muscadines are sweeter, more like a concord grape, and the scuppernongs are more tangy.

"I like to eat them; I squash them in my mouth and throw the hulls away," Castleberry said. "At the end of the season the hulls will get thinner and sometimes I'll chew them."

Once the fruit is ripe, some folks turn the muscadines or scuppernongs into jelly, like Gainesville resident Linda Coleman.

"My mother used to make it (muscadine jelly) when I was growing up, and about five years ago me and my husband pulled a vine out of the woods down here and we planted it up next to our house," Coleman said. "They have just flourished this year. I've made about 6 pints (of preserves) and a few half pints this year."

Castleberry recommended fertilizing the plants in the spring and adding some lime to the soil, too. "Cut them off sometime in January and then again (later in the year)," she said. "I have to trim them again because they are down on the ground."

Typically, Coleman makes jelly from the muscadines. This year she went about the process differently.

"I didn't strain it through a cloth; I strained it more through a (metal) sleeve," she said. "After you get the water to boil they will start to busting open and then I'll take a potato masher and mash them up so they will all bust open. Then just barely cover them over with water when you start to boil them."

Coleman said the preserves don't take much time or effort and you can freeze the berries for later use.

"You can actually pick the berries, wash them and dry them and put them in a container and put them in the freezer and go back later to use them," she said. "I really enjoy making it and I give more of it away than what we eat."