Memorial Day

What a great day today! We started out going to Lake City and taking the kids fishing at Lake Pepin. We only caught 3 fish, but they had fun. It is kind of a tradition to go there and then DQ for ice cream, then we go to the greenhouse right next door. I found 1 Bluebell grape plant and I HAD to have it! I had wanted to order 4 for this year, but they were not ready to ship when we needed to plant them. So it was really nice to get one and plant it at home.

I moved 3 Concord cuttings over by my other ones next to my arbor so I could put the Bluebell right there. Now there are 7 cuttings next to one side of the arbor, I am hoping at least one of them grows. I just took 3 node cuttings that I trimmed off the Concord plant this spring and just stuck them in the ground. I have had 1 of them sprout already in a different location in my yard. So I have hope that one will work.

Spraying Insecticide

I sprayed Pyrethrin this morning for the flee beetles that are eating all of the leaves in my garden. I also sprayed all my grapes plants because there is a tent caterpillar cluster in the neighbors yard. I already found one caterpillar on one of my grape plants, it did not live long.

My grapes have started growing CRAZY!!! I am going to let them grow wild this year instead of training them to one stem so that next year they will have strong growth due to a good root system. I do not use grow tubes. Using grow tubes gives the least amount of roots the first year according to research by Ohio State. Letting them grow wild gives the thickest root systems, and training to one stem is in the middle. All this heat has just pushed them hard and the fertilizer won't hurt also.

In my garden I spread my compost around my rows of plants about 12 inches on either side of the plants. I am primarily doing this for weed control. I had 2 of my sons help me by weeding my grapes and it was a real help for me. The weather was aver 90 today and all those weed seedlings that were hoed up, dried up DEAD! Now it is finally raining for the first time in almost weeks. This ought to really help the grass and save me a little money on water out of the faucet.

I am just going to rest this Memorial Day weekend. Thank you to all the soldiers that have fought and died for our country so that we could be free. Remember to thank a soldier, active duty and retired for all the sacrifices they have done for us.

Rapid growth

It has been over 80 degrees almost each day this last week and all my plants are growing very well. I have updated pictures of LC03-09 (the nice green growth plant), M10-10 (the new Marquette plant I just put in), M01-09 (the second grape cluster starting to form), and FG03-09 (the first grape cluster starting to form). I will try to document these clusters throughout the growing season because it will be cool to see the growth progression!

I do have an extensive note taking book for all my plants, that is why there are names for them. I had worked in plant breeding research for about 5 years at the University of Minnesota, so I am well aquainted with note taking, and the why it is important. Some of the terms I will use are:

M = Marquette

FG = Frontinac Gris

LC = LaCrescent

C = Concord

01-09 = the first plant of a certain variety that was planted in 2009

10-10 = the tenth plant of a certain variety that was planted in 2010

I am going to let one cluster per variety grow out to harvest. I know, that is not the best for the plant in year 2, but I am impatient as you know. That is why I am just going to have 1 cluster grow out, that way only one plant will be affected. I think it should still be OK however.

(I see after I posted pictures that they are not perfect and oriented properly, oh well, you will have tilt your head)

I just broadcast granular fertilizer 10-10-10 over all grape plants and my garden area. Then I lightly watered everything to mix the granules and "set" them into the dirt (I would fail Soil Science class because I call soil, dirt, but that is half the fun of saying it. This might be my only time fertilizing this year, we will see.

I love my vineyard!

Bud Swell

I just toured my vines and all 16 plants that froze out 2 weeks ago have new buds that are popping! This 80 degree weather really helps and some are growing 2-3 inches per day. I just have to be patient and wait because I have been freaking out wondering if they were all dead or not.

Here is a trustworthy saying that someone told me once, "DON'T FREAK OUT UNTIL IT IS OVER!" If you tell yourself this when you are still in the middle of doing something, you should be less stressed out.

Of my 12 new plants that I planted last weekend, most of them are starting to swell at the buds and I think within a couple days they will pop. So this means I did not kill them, and that is a good thing.

Our forecast is 80+ degrees for the next 10 days which is above the normal temps for our area, but it will really help the plants to kick into overdrive and grow fast. It is just a lot of fun to watch these grow day by day. I look at each plant every day and so I know each one and its progress.

For my record keeping system, I even named each plant. For example, Marquette that was planted in 2009 that is the first plant in the row is named M01-09. The second plant is M02-09 and so forth. I created a spraying chart and guide to record how much of what chemical I used and when I sprayed it. This is a BIG help when I want to know what I sprayed and when.

Well, I just finished putting in my first 6 inch post on the end of one of my rows. My son dug the hole, and I put it in and filled it in while pounding all the dirt with a 2x2. It is encouraging to see progress. I think I will try to put in 1 post per week. That way I can recover from the pain of being tired, and I will get them all in by the end of the summer. I will do the end posts first, so at least I can run a string or something for the plants to grow on until I get the wires put up. Time to get ready for work now.

Planted Garden, Grape Progress

Well, I just planted my garden yesterday and got the chicken wire fence put up so it is off and growing. After this weekend I am ready to go back to work to relax.

I put some transplants out and planted some seeds, so at least there will be something to look at until everything comes up in a week or so.

The frost we had a week ago really knocked back the grapes and I have only found 3 new leaves that have started to re-grow. I am pleased however that one of them is a cutting I made from my Concord plant that I just stuck in the ground after pruning it this march. It has a bud about 1/2 inch long and a leaf is starting to emerge from it. It is very exciting.

Now my total number of plants is:

4 Concords (if all the cuttings grow)

14 Marquette

10 Frontinac Gris

4 LeCresant

We are suppose to start having more warmer temps this week, so I am hoping that the temperature will jump start everything and get them growing again. I think that once they start growing, I will only have a month to 6 weeks to get my trellis posts in before they hit the 5 foot wire. That is my next job (and weeding of course).

If I can figure out how to post pictures, I will get some posted for their progress throughout the whole growing season.

Planted 12 new grape plants

I just got done planting 12 new grape plants, 6 Marquette's, and 6 Frontinac Gris. I am really tired. A co-worker/friend of mine bought 40 along with my order and he has a lot of work ahead of him to get them in the ground. I was really surprised at how big the roots were on the cutting I got. some were over 2 feet long! I had dug small holes, and then after seeing the root systems, I had to enlarge them all so that the roots did not ball up and they were spread out. I dug black dirt from out in the floodplain woods behind my house to fill in the holes, and it worked out very well.

I planted 2 Marquette's in 5 gallon pails so I could transplant them up by the front door next year after I build a arbor over the front step. I made drain holes, put rocks in the bottom, lined it with burlap (so I can pull it out next year), and filled it with black dirt.

I was going to plant my garden today, but I was too tired. Maybe tomorrow I can get it in.

Until next time, have a glass of wine, enjoy a vineyard, and praise the L-rd G-d Almighty for His creation!

A little background. I bought 16 cold tolerant wine grape plants last year in May 2009, 8 Marquette, 4 Frontiac Gris, and 4 LeCrescent grape plants. They were released from the University of Minnesota breeding program. I also have 1 Concord plant that was a 2 years old when I got it.

My intent was to have my own vineyard to make my own wine, grape juice and jelly. I figured that we could always have some yield each year, even if deer hunting did not yield for me each year. I have an Agronomy Degree and have worked in plant breeding and weed ecology, but now I work in a different field. I wanted to apply my knowledge to gardening because I like doing it and I can see the results of the work of my hands.

I would like to catch up since I started this, but I am just going to start from here and digress as time goes on.

I ordered 12 more plants that will be shipped to me this week: 6 Marquette and 6 Frontinac Gris. I will plant them this weekend, and also plant about 18 Concord cuttings from last years growth that I have had 12 in the fridge wrapped in wet sawdust, and 6 more that I cut fresh from pruning off my plant that I did tonight. We will see how it goes.

Until next time...

Introduction to blog

Here is my first blog, please bear with me, but I want to record what happens in my newly planted vineyard throughout the year. Hopefully this will help others, and comments and ideas from others can help me. Here we go...