Second spraying

What I did:
     Gave a second round of late dormant sulfur spray

Comments:
     It was a nice, warm upper 60 degree day.  I gave a thorough second coating of lime sulfur spray, with about 2/3 the strength of my original spray.  I sprayed heavily on the ground under the vines of the older plants as well, since I saw a number of dried mummies and rachises around them.  I need to spend an hour or so raking and removing as much of that as I can.  It will have to wait until May, however, since we will be gone for awhile. Some of the grapes are showing swollen buds, others nothing yet.  The Cayuga whites, one year old, are looking healthy and should all bud out.
Two days ago I watered the newly planted Frontenac Gris, with acid fertilizer.   We've been lucky to have several  very pleasant spring days in a row.  This is Iowa--that won't last.

Planting time

What I did:
     Planted the vines, added sulfur to increase pH
   
Comments:
     We got our 3 vines of Frontenac Gris the other day, then had to leave town so I left them in the shipping bag, then put them in some water yesterday afternoon after we returned home and planted them this afternoon.  The bareroot plants look healthy.   I was impressed with the description of these vines, so I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do.  Sounds like they are easy to prune and make interesting wines that, according to the University of Minnesota, present "aromas of peach and apricot with hints of enticing citrus and tropical fruits...unique and complex flavors make this an excellent grape for table, dessert and ice wines." http://www.grapes.umn.edu/gris/index.htmlrUnique and complex flavors make this an excellent grape for table, dessert, and ice wines.
I know the white fence is not your traditional  setup for the vines, but I will run extra posts along it and wire for the vines.  If I can figure out a better location for the fence, I'll move it and put in the usual post arrangement.
I also added some sulfur to try to lower the pH a bit in this row.  I'll test the soil again after the next rain, which could be tonight.

Round-up

What I did:
     I did an application of Roundup today.

Comments:
     No buds of any kind showing yet, only on the black currants.  So I decided to do an application of roundup, since it was mostly sunny though cool (low sixties).  I had to stop about 3/4 of the way through, though, as I became aware of bees all over the grass.  It has been really dry here, and we had a little sprinkle overnight and the bees are desperate for any moisture.  They were tonguing the mud under the vines.  I hope they were not hurt by my spraying.  I stopped until later in the afternoon, when the bees were no longer on the grass.  They were certainly out and about, though.
     I also tied up a few loose ends and noted several that I need to go back and trim a bit better.  Seems like I always miss some shoots the first time through.

pH testing

What I did:
     Used the pH tester to check the soil acidity for each row in the vineyard

Comments:

It's been awhile since I checked soil for pH, so I thought I'd see how things looked.  I used the rapitest pH meter.  First, you scrape away a couple inches of soil, then work up the soil for about 4-5 inches.  Add enough water and mix to create a muddy slurry.  

Then you insert the metal probe into the soil and wait about a minute to take your reading.  As you can see, the needle shows a pH of almost 7.  I am looking for a reading in the neighborhood of 5.5-6.5.  This reading was in an area where I will be planting the Frontenac Gris this spring.  I removed the Concords that had been growing there and perhaps they didn't do well since the soil needs to be more acidic.  I'll work some fertilizer for acid-loving plants into the soil, retest, and see how that looks.
My row-by-row results were as follows:
Row 1  Frontenac Gris                                                                      6.5-7 (almost 7)
Rows 2 and 3   Pergola (Niagaras, aurore, De Chaunac                     5.5-6, each row
Row 4  aurore, De Chaunac, Cayuga white                                        6-6.5
Row 5 Concords                                                                               6.5
Row 6 Reliance seedless, Frontenac, Cayuga White, Norton              6-6.5
Row 7 Nortons                                                                                  5.5-6

In all, things looked pretty decent. I realize this is only a pH test and I really know little about the composition of the rest of the soil and will look into what it will take to get it tested as well.

Last Week in March

What I did:
 2nd and 3rd week:
     Dug out 3 non-productive Concords.  Will replace them with Frontenac Gris.
     Trimmed the vines over 3 day period.  Severely cut back the Niagaras and Moore's Diamond, which were growing over the top of the pergola.  Last year they produced heavily, but the grapes up high developed rot quickly and are not worth the bother.
     March 29th (today):  dormant lime/sulfur spray.  I used a 6 oz to the gallon mixture.   I applied a fairly heavy spray.  Low 40's for temps, no rain predicted for 48 hrs.

Comments:

Some vines look dead, at least one aurore and one of the white seedless varieties.  I've been fooled before, but twigs broke off easily, clearly dead in the parts I broke off.  We also planted 3 Cayuga whites last year, compliments of our daughter and her husband, now living in the Finger Lakes area of upstate NY.  They look good.  I trimmed them back pretty severely and will not expect grapes for a year or two.

After trimming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also sprayed our blueberries with the lime/sulfur since we have had fungus problems the last two years with them as well.

Introduction

Kathy and I live on a 3+ acre plot of land in east central Iowa, near Iowa City.  We've lived in this location since 1994.  We have some open prairie land; some timber; a small orchard with apples, cherries (sweet and sour), and peaches; a large garden; a small (currently 2 hives) apiary;  and a small vineyard of about 35-40 vines.

Looking out back toward the garden and vineyard beyond

We grew Concord grapes for many years, and have always made terrific grape juice that clearly rivals Welch's, using a steamer juicer.  In about 2006, I decided to try to  improve my wine-making abilities, having tried making some Concord wine, with little success.  We decided to expand the vineyard, planting some more concords but also some wine grapes.  We bought some aurore, traminette, De Chaunac, Niagara, Moore's Diamond, and chardonel vines.  I also built a large pergola, about 40 feet long and ten feet wide, on which to grow some grapes. The traminette and chardonel did not produce, and were removed from the vineyard.  In their place, we have planted Nortons from Missouri, realizing we are probably on the
northern edge of their territory.  We did get a few grapes last year, their 3rd year, and will have to see how they do.  We also have planted several seedless varietals which are table grapes, such as reliant seedless and a seedless concord.
In this blog, I will try to keep a record of our year with grapes, from pruning to harvest to wine/juice making.  I plan to essentially keep a diary/log of our experiences, everything from spraying to canopy management.  I hope to use this for myself as a way to improve our work with the grapes as well as what we do with our harvest.  Any comments, well-intended suggestions or questions are always welcome.