This weekend past I received a very pleasant surprise when an old friend dropped in bearing the gift of a wild grape seedling, reminding me of my first experience of this wild relative of the table grape.

I regaled him with a story of a bushwalk into the wilds of the Kimberley with another mate. It was April, towards the end of the monsoon season when the country was still wet and lush, but the humidity had started to lift, and the nights were cool enough to sleep restfully.

We happened across a wild grape vine smothered in bunches of ripe black fruit. We gorged ourselves on this sweet delicacy thinking how lucky we were. That was until a short time later we began to experience a tingling of the lips much like you get after drinking kava. A little fearful we stopped eating thinking our identification skills had gone awry. Eventually the numbness wore off and we swore we'd eat less the next time.

What causes the tingling? I'm unsure. What I was able to find is that a similar occurrence happens when you eat too much Sichuan pepper. The effect is caused by an ingredient in the peppers called sanshool which stimulates a sensory reaction in the lips resulting in tingling. My guess is wild grape must contain a similar compound and when eaten in excess causes the numbing of the mouth and lips.

First Nations people throughout the northern tropical regions of Australia, New Guinea and Timor Leste knew this, utilising wild grape as a food source but spitting out the skin and consuming only the flesh.

Not only is the fruit edible but the swollen tuber of Ampelocissus acetosa is baked and consumed. Use was also made of the sap from the plant to dye pandanus weavings.

Wunambal Gaambera people of thenorth Kimberley refer to this native grape as jaburru and Bunuba people from around Fitzroy Crossing call it marawalay.

Wild grape sprouts from a perennial tuber after the first rains of the wet season fall, it grows rapidly, climbing and trailing over rocks and trees. They produce masses of tiny flowers that are pollinated by native bees and wasps.

The bunches of grapes grow quickly before withering, the vine yellows and dies back to the tuber. Like so many plants that pop up during the monsoon, if you don't see them in season you wouldn't know they existed. The beauty is the tuber resprouts at the beginning of the next wet and the cycle begins again.

Being able to grow wild grape relies on the ability to access fresh seed which sprouts readily. It enjoys large amounts of water over the humid summer months and should be planted in free draining soil.

I'm looking forward to getting my first harvest next year from my newly planted seedling thanks to my mate Tim!