# 2010 Growing season



## Racer (Apr 24, 2010)

I'd like to hear how everybody's doing with their plants that they make wine from. My growing season started about 3 weeks ago with budbreak on my apple tree's and grape vines happening within days of each other. Currently have about 4" shoot growth on the grape vines and 8-10 leaves on the new growth on the apples. I've dodged frost damage so far this year(first time in about 5 years now).I still have my fingers crossed about that though. We still have about 2 more weeks before that possibility goes away for this year here.

How's your stuff growing for you folk's so far?


----------



## Wade E (Apr 24, 2010)

I havent made any wines from them yet as I just transplanted them late fall last year but my 18 Black Currant bushes are flourishing like crazy!


----------



## deboard (Apr 24, 2010)

The only thing I have that I might actually be able to make wine out of this year is my plum trees. They flowered like crazy, and now they are looking good. We'll see how much they produce. 

I bought some cynthiana/norton grape vines, and now I have my trellis completed. So I may plant them today. Of course I'm not expecting anything from them until at least the third season. 

Bought 6 black currant bushes and planted them last week. They are doing great, and even have a lot of flowers on them. But I doubt they will produce much if anything this year.


----------



## Mud (Apr 24, 2010)

My blueberries are suffering as I had to transplant them. Accidentally planted them in a very wet spot that didn't drain well. They survived, but they're struggling.

Six out of seven new Heritage raspeberries haven't done anything yet. Most of the 100 strawberries planted last fall look decent, and the rhubarb planted with it looks great. Elderberries are budded and look vigorous.

The cherry tree is budded, but it's very little yet. Was started from a sweet cherry pit, so who knows what it'll be. Peaches and plums look good, and the blossoms are very pretty. Especially the pink plum blossoms. 

Might have lost my Michelin apple, but it still looks green inside. No other signs of life, though. The dabinett and golden russet look really good. 

That's everything. All in all, a pretty good report..


----------



## Wade E (Apr 24, 2010)

Damn Mud, is there anything you dont have growing my friend?


----------



## Midwest Vintner (Apr 24, 2010)

so far:
black currant (5)
jalapeno's (12)
cherry trees (4)
pear trees (4)
gooseberry (3+ ? on a bunch of wild ones)
raspberry (100+ 35-50 were transplanted and 50-75 wild black ones)
blackberry (? couldn't tell between some of the transplanted raspberries)
chokeberry (10)
strawberry (15-20?, enough for now)
concord grape (2 really old and 2 brand new)
elderberry (7 or 10)

it's hard for me to remember how many of each as we just planted most of it 2 weeks ago. with the mix of rain and sun, it should be growing rapidly. i know the grass is.

nothing better than growing, picking, pressing and making all aspects of the wine. some will be sacrificed to jam. 

and more to come....


----------



## Wade E (Apr 24, 2010)

We arent getting any rain at all.a few weeks ago we got 6 months worth though and nothing since! Ive been watering my lawn just to keep it from totally dying ou. Normally this time of the year my lawn looks awesome then I typically lose it late June -July, its pretty much at that point nowand Im on a well so cant go nus playng the hose game.


----------



## Sacalait (Apr 24, 2010)

Some of my muscadine vines are struggling with what appears to be a fungus. I hit them with Captan 50 a few days ago... we'll see.

3 grape vines, 2 green and 1 black spanish (I think) are doing great with clusters of flower buds.

6 varities of blackberries that are loaded... I'll be picking in a week or so.

2 fig trees loaded.

4 pear trees (hasoui) not doing worth a damn, thinking of cutting them down.


----------



## Mud (Apr 25, 2010)

Actually, there are a few more on the list. The more fruit we grow the less lawn I have to mow. 

I decided not to plant much this year as the budget is a little tight, but it's just as well. Harvest season is going to be busy busy once all this stuff starts to bear. Might have to start a fruit stand. 

<picks mulch from hair, falls asleep typinggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg


----------



## Larryh86GT (Apr 25, 2010)

My row of raspberries are getting nice and green. I have replanted the runner canes that were popping up away from the row to my row of blueberries. I am giving up on the blueberries and will let the raspberries have their ground. 
My 2 little 3rd year Marquis grapevines are just breaking bud now. I love this time of the year.

Larry


----------



## Mud (Apr 25, 2010)

Did you ever have your soil tested? For a few dollars you can send in a sample to Penn State Cooperative Extension and they'll tell you what you need. Cornell probably does the same thing. They have a huge ag program.


----------



## djrockinsteve (Apr 25, 2010)

Soil test in the beginning at the least can be a great help in getting things started. All of my fruits and veggies are growing well. We have actually had a spring for a change instead of cold, cold, Hot weather. Sparatic rain and lots of sunshine. Everything is going green.


----------



## grapeman (Apr 26, 2010)

I make wine from my 2000 vines or at least the ones bearing so far. I am still finishing up springtime work in the vineyard including pruning, weed control, trellis installation, new vine planting, vine replacing varieties I chose to replace and on and on.


----------



## Racer (Apr 26, 2010)

grapeman said:


> I make wine from my 2000 vines or at least the ones bearing so far. I am still finishing up springtime work in the vineyard including pruning, weed control, trellis installation, new vine planting, vine replacing varieties I chose to replace and on and on.



Has your vineyard been warm enough to avoid frost this spring so far? If you don't mind me asking what kind of harvest numbers did you get from your frontenac last year.


----------



## sly22guy (Apr 27, 2010)

Im so far behind this year, we did some major landscaping changes to accomadate my new grapevines. Just now getting everything straightened out and planted. Now at least i have a 1/3 of an acre for grapes & fruit trees and little garden with a green house! = alot less mowing for me!


----------



## Wade E (Apr 27, 2010)

Hehehe, nice signature Sly!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## grapeman (Apr 27, 2010)

Racer said:


> Has your vineyard been warm enough to avoid frost this spring so far? If you don't mind me asking what kind of harvest numbers did you get from your frontenac last year.


 We haven't reached budbreak yet this year. Good thing too, since it has snowed all day. Supposed to be in the 80's by the weekend again.

Last year the Frontenac averaged 8 tons to the acre with a low brix of only 22-24 since it was such a nasty cool year. Some of them came in closer to 26 on the poorest section of the vineyard.


----------



## Mud (May 4, 2010)

Good news! The michelin apple is sprouting leaves and looking healthy. So are the blueberries that were looking sick.


----------



## Wade E (May 4, 2010)

Thats great Mud, looks to me like I might have a decent season with Currants as there are berries growing as we speak on many plants, some of them are still too young to produce.


----------



## Midwest Vintner (May 5, 2010)

i can't wait for our currants to grow. sadly it will be a year or two before we have anything to talk about  love black currant wine!

we've had good weather here. stuff's growing like mad. 

on a side note, IIRC, MU does the same thing with soil out here i believe. send it to them and they will analyze it for ya. not sure if they charge or how that works, but my dad usually sends it off. haven't done so for the soil at our new place. it's much better here than we had it before. it's rich and dark for 6-10" here. all hill so it drains descent too.


----------



## pwrose (May 5, 2010)

I'm jealous of all of you......
I only have 17 blueberry bushes and 5 of them are only last years cuts.
I have 2.5 acres and over 3/4 of that is open grass/weeds lol. I need to start putting something in there, any suggestions that are still plantable for this year.

What are the conditions that black currents like? It gets really hot and humid here during the summer months. I know that I would have a hard time with one of my favorite berries which is raspberries, but what are some others?

PW


----------



## Racer (May 5, 2010)

Check with your local county ag extension first. I have property in N.C. and have been looking into what can and can't be grown there. I believe currants may not be an option for you.


----------



## Mud (May 5, 2010)

Lots of states have bans on ribes (gooseberries and currants) as white pine blister rust needs them in order to finish its life cycle. PA has a ban, but the cooperative extension provides growing info and says it's an outdated law and not enforced. Can't comment on NC laws, but like Racer said, the ag extensions are great sources of information.


----------



## Julie (May 6, 2010)

Holy cow, holy cow, HOLY COW do I have the cherries . I have two Montmorency cherry trees that can not get any fuller. I am still scare that we might get a frost but I am starting to hope that maybe not. Also, 1 apple tree is loaded the other not too bad but the third had nothing. That's ok because what I do have will make me a good big batch of wine and apply pies. The blueberries are looking pretty good as well but they are young so I not expecting to get enough for wine.


----------



## djrockinsteve (May 7, 2010)

I see many crabapple trees around here. Anybody make crabapple wine?
My apple trees have a lot of mini apples on them now as my grape vines have many bunches. It's neat to see how and where grapes grow on the vine. I've snipped back my vines to thicken the vine so we are very excited for our grapes this year.


----------



## Racer (May 9, 2010)

I wish frost season would end for this spring! I've been up since 4 watering the vines down trying to stop more damage from happening. I'll have to check the vines later today but so far I think I kept damage down to a minimum. I'll need to spray the vines again too since I'm sure I washed everything off of them by now.


----------



## Mud (May 9, 2010)

Wade once sent me a bottle of crabapple wine. It was very good.


----------



## Wade E (May 9, 2010)

djrockinsteve said:


> I see many crabapple trees around here. Anybody make crabapple wine?
> My apple trees have a lot of mini apples on them now as my grape vines have many bunches. It's neat to see how and where grapes grow on the vine. I've snipped back my vines to thicken the vine so we are very excited for our grapes this year.



I make Crab apple wine every year but only use the bigger "Dolgo" crab apples and they are very god. I usually have enough off one tree thats down the road to make 12 gallons and I make 6 gallons still and 6 gallons Sparkling. Heres a pic of the size of a Dolgo crab apple.


----------



## RMT (May 9, 2010)

At the B.C. House; my merlot might have had some winter or early fall freeze damage,
because the basal buds have broken out first, instead of at the ends. Oh well, it was only the 1st year growth & ahead of schedual for some of them, so I'll prune back to the main stem at the fruiting wire anyway. There were 7 out of the 50 that had to be pruned down to 2 buds because they didn't reach the fruiting wire last year, thats not bad 86% on schedual

The Lapin Cherry that was put in last year is loaded with blosums this year.

Raspberries transplanted last year from runners from the Alberta house are comming back with new canes.

At the Alberta house we just got rid of the last of the snow (had a snow storm last week)
For those who are unfamiliar with Alberta weather we've been having a fairly warm spring then we get dumped on with 5 " of snow. (the saying is- if you don't like the weather here, just wait 10 minutes)
Anyway back to the fruit. The raspberries in Alberta are coming along, the rubarb as usual is growing like crazy. 
From a vine that I suspect to be Vitis Riparia, I started from cuttings then planted out side last year, only 2 out of 5 seem to show signs of bud break, I've got a bunch more dormant cuttings this year from the neighbours vine, that now have about 4" growth on them in pots inside house
My red currents didn't make it, pests killed it  - some type of little fly, maybe boror.
The Mayday tree is budding (is basicaly a late blooming chokecherry)
The Pear tree had blight last year, so I had to prune half of the tree away, but what is left is
budding good this year.

I plan on transplanting some rhubarb in B.C. this coming week. 
____________
Randy


----------



## grapeman (May 9, 2010)

The next three nights will be touchy here. The high today was about 37 and the low expected at the low 30's for today, tomorrow and the next day. The vines have popped and some have 6 inches of growth. I continue to be impressed with the St. Pepin. It is still just starting to break- which helps with frost. Only time will tell how my vineyard fares this year! It has been snowing on and off all day!


----------



## Julie (May 9, 2010)

Well it looks like I lost my blueberries. The flowers just fell off and there is nothing there but the holls. I am assuming the last frost did this, that was about 2 weeks ago.

Both of my cherry trees are full of cherries and they are calling for 29 tonight, if it goes down to that I will lose the cherries. This is what happen last year. Ok, UPDATE, Mike got off the sofa where he has been lying all day dying from the flu to help me put tarps on both trees. So now I'm gonna have to be nice to him because he was a real sweetheart. 

The concords have barely started to leaf, so hopefully they will be safe. The niagara's and catawba's are way to small to worry about. The apple trees will probably survive, they did last year anyway.

Ok, I'm hoping for the best.


----------



## Julie (May 10, 2010)

at 5:30 am the temps were 28 degrees. There is frost on the tarps, hopefully the cherries are ok.


----------



## Mud (May 10, 2010)

Best of luck, Julie. Hope you don't lose your crop again. Nothing I have is big enough to bear much, so I'm not concerned. But this is the second yr in a row we've had a last frost. not great.


----------



## Runningwolf (May 10, 2010)

Hope all works out for you Julie. Thanks to Mike you'll have born again virgin tree's with new cherries this year!


----------



## sly22guy (May 10, 2010)

Planted 24 of the 36 vines yesterday up on the hill. then of course it got cold last night only down to 38 i think, no frost. There is frost advisories for the rest of the week in my area, but im up on a hill and usually dont get too much frost. I dont have my blue x vine shelters on yet but plan on doing that tonight. these are 1yr & 1yr+ vines. Will the shelters be good enough to protect from frost or is there something else i should do? 

Lost about 18 tomato plants from too much heat the weekend before last was mid 90's here. had soda bottles over them and it baked them Oh well guess next year i wont rush and put out my plants so early.


----------



## Mud (May 10, 2010)

I think you mainly need to keep the frost from falling on the plants. As long as you have a tarp or cloth of some sort over them they should be ok. 

Was trimming around the apple that leafed out late and hit it with the string. Took off a patch of bark about 1" high and 1/2 the circumference of the tree. I put some asphalt based wound dressing on it. It's only about 1" in diameter. Hope it survives. 

-clumsy Mud


----------



## Racer (May 10, 2010)

sly22guy said:


> Planted 24 of the 36 vines yesterday up on the hill. then of course it got cold last night only down to 38 i think, no frost. There is frost advisories for the rest of the week in my area, but im up on a hill and usually dont get too much frost. I dont have my blue x vine shelters on yet but plan on doing that tonight. these are 1yr & 1yr+ vines. Will the shelters be good enough to protect from frost or is there something else i should do?
> 
> Lost about 18 tomato plants from too much heat the weekend before last was mid 90's here. had soda bottles over them and it baked them Oh well guess next year i wont rush and put out my plants so early.



Frost will not usually effect vines that haven't broken bud yet. If the temp. goes low enough it can hurt the buds. But that usually means well below freezing to do that.


----------



## Wade E (May 10, 2010)

We might get a frost here also and I hope it dont tak out my berries.


----------



## Julie (May 11, 2010)

Looks like I was able to save the one cherry tree and half of the second cherry tree. The tarp on the second tree did not cover the whole tree. Not sure about the apples, those trees were done blossoming but apples have not formed yet. Time will tell.


----------



## jtstar (May 11, 2010)

Here in northeast Nebraska we had a frost two night ago I had 45 vine showing growth after a hard winter but they don't look so good now the frost got to them hope they can snap out of it 
Jack


----------



## Racer (May 11, 2010)

If you haven't gone thru and nicked out any buds you should see the vines respond by getting the secondary or tertiary buds to grow for you. I just hate to see the primaries with all their great looking growth and large clusters get hit by frost.


----------



## jtstar (May 11, 2010)

Racer said:


> If you haven't gone thru and nicked out any buds you should see the vines respond by getting the secondary or tertiary buds to grow for you. I just hate to see the primaries with all their great looking growth and large clusters get hit by frost.



Thanks for that information Racer I had no ideal 
Jack


----------



## Larryh86GT (May 12, 2010)

I planted 25 Honeoye Strawberry plants a few weeks ago and they are doing well. I should have some berries next year.

Larry


----------



## myakkagldwngr (May 12, 2010)

I'm really envious of what you all can grow up North. I know that you suffer thru the winters, but then you can grow so many different things.
Down here we have mainly citrus and veggies. I planted a couple Muscadines last month, but we are now in the middle of a hot dry spell. I water them every couple days to keep them from going totally dry. 
The wild blackberries in my yard are still just little green berries about the size of a pencil eraser.
No apples here, or peaches, pears nothing like that.
We could raise some blue berries, but the heat and drought make a watering system a must.


----------



## Mud (May 12, 2010)

Looks good, Larry. I just weeded and mulched mine today. Lost a few through the winter, but not many. They're flowered and looking good. Should turn into a serious bed.

You can't grow peaches in Florida? Who knew?

probably Floridians. 

BY the way...Do you know Christopher Walken? He's a dual citizen of the US and Florida.

Nothing I wrote is funny. <shame>


----------



## Wade E (May 12, 2010)

I made stairs for Christopher Walken as he has a place in CT. I didnt meet him but our truck driver did and said he looked baked beyond reality!


----------



## Mud (May 12, 2010)

No way. That's awesome. I once put some flooring in Ron Howard's house. Really. carried it in and put it down. Then went back to the truck for more. Can't remember where it was, though, and I wasn't baked. Seems like it was in Ct.


----------



## sly22guy (May 12, 2010)

cant you grow watermellons in florida? that would make some sweet wine!


----------



## Midwest Vintner (May 13, 2010)

sly22guy said:


> cant you grow watermellons in florida? that would make some sweet wine!



watermelon is a tough wine to get right. lots of water and spoils fast. ask me how i know


----------



## sly22guy (May 13, 2010)

lol if making wine was easy wouldnt everyone do it? i planted some watermelons maybe ill give it a whirl. i was thinking of just using them as an additive to the rasberry wine. ill just have to wait and see how much i get.


----------



## xanxer82 (May 13, 2010)

I think I've mentioned my favorite watermelon "wine" recipe before. Very quick so no time for spoilage! 
Step One
Cut a plug out of a watermelon.
Step Two
Pour in a handle of vodka or everclear
Step Three 
replace plug 
Step 4
Refridgerate for a few hours.
Step 5
Enjoy!


----------



## pwrose (May 13, 2010)

xanxer82 said:


> I think I've mentioned my favorite watermelon "wine" recipe before. Very quick so no time for spoilage!
> Step One
> Cut a plug out of a watermelon.
> Step Two
> ...



Step 4.5
Remove plug and replace with tap

PW


----------



## sly22guy (May 13, 2010)

Ive used that recipe many times in the past always great for an afternoon cookout!


----------

