Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

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Those are some nice clusters there appleman.

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Wade those are some fairly small clusters. Some of the American varieties are huge, but still really green.


Here are a last couple pictures I couldn't get to load on the previous post(last page).


The Leon Millot VSP is filling in nicely I showd a few weeks ago.


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Finally here is a picture I used on the first page of the post and what part of the vineyard looks like now. Getting close yet?


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Hey Richard,

The shots of the Frontenac leave me wondering if Andy sold me Frontenac Gris by mistake. Mine are still totally green, although showing a bit of translucence now, showing a little of the yellowing that the white varities develop as they ripen. I'll just have to wait and see. It looks like we'll lose an entire week of development while this cold weather drifts through. Down to the mid-forties for several nights, with frost warnings in the western mountains of Maine and NH - sheesh! None of my table grapes have started veraison yet either.

Back to the Frontenac. Did you find you have to spray for PM with yours? if so, what have you used. Of my 5 varieties, only the Frontenacs are showing evidence of infection, with brown speckling of the leaves that spreads quickly up the shoots. I let it go too long, I'm afraid, and only today did I spray with powdered milk to try to stop it. I also have sulfur on hand but have to wonder if I need something stronger. Last year PM was only a very small problem here and there for the Frontenac at the end of summer. I now know that in future I will have to start spraying early with this variety.
 
Bill the Frontenac Gris actually start turning also and aren't a true white variety. They just lack the intesity of pigments the regular Frontenac have. They turn a pale blueish purple and the whine made from them doesn't get much pigment.
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When I talked with Andy he said that Frontenac seems to get just about every strange non-descript disease there is, but it doesn't stop them. Mine have what looks like a magnesium deficiency, but it is the only variety out of 20+ to show it. Andy says that he has had a lot of growers comment on that.


If it is powdery mildew they are getting, you could use some Kaligreen or Baking Soda, both considered organic. I use baking soda this year when the Leon Millot started getting some PM. It stopped it pretty quickly. I got some Elite last week to keep on hand if it starts to get out of control early next season. Not supposed to use more than 2 or 3 sprays of it per year to prevent disease resistance buildup.


The cold nights are slowing growth, but it doesn't seem to be slowing ripening a lot. I've heard that cold nights and warm days actually speed up ripening. I guess it signals the plants that the growing season is getting close to the end, hurry up and ripen the seeds. It was 45 here this AM, 38 in Saranac Lake. Close to a full moon so it will warm back up in a few days once we get past the full moon. Then we will be good for another month.Edited by: appleman
 
Appleman....some of those photos would make nice labels.


My Frontenac are starting to turn now...last year was the first year they had a few clusters and this year they didn't set many clusters either. I was kind of disappointed in the one older plant. I planted a row of 9 new vines and have a couple spares...Hope they come around.


The Beta [Concord X Wild Montana] are turning quickly now, they are not as sweet as the Valiant [Fredonia X Wild Montana] Valiants are very disease prone and am very happy as they very clean this year. Beta are very disease resistant.


The King of the North are turning nicely too....will be awhile on those. Kind of nice when the ripening pf varieties is spread out like that.


The couple Swenson Red vines...that I pruned way back this year, they have a few clusters that are turning red now.


Of the white vines, Louise Swenson's has the most clusters for 2 year old vines. The Edelweiss was pruned way back and grew too much foilage...I have to prune out some leaves and get some light in there.....I have planted 2 new white vines this spring a Prairie Star and a replacement Baltic Amber...they didn't grow much.


I have a hard time telling when the white grapes are ready.


We have also had a few nights in the upper 40's....hate that!!!!

Edited by: Northern Winos
 
Hopefully the refractometer will help you distinguish when the whites are ready!
 
If they are out of the top of the tubes, they have done pretty well for all the heat you had there. I'm sure you had a number of days of o growth, especially in the tubes. Plants don't grow when the temps get above 95 deg. Since the tubes raise the temps a few degree inside, the problem of the hot days was compunded. They will be fine, remember they were just rooted cuttings this year, not bareroot vines that already had a year of growing roots before you saw them.


Next year watchout!
 
I have been watching an interesting development in my vineyard. First, as a lot of varieties of grapes reached veraison I noticed that apparently the Catawba were reaching veraison at about the same time as the rest. One vine developed fruit with a pink tint to them. This is mid August and they normally aren't ripe until mid-October. A week or so went by and I went to check their progress. I found the vine and two bunches are almost red now. Well that can't be a Catawba they don't get red and then purple, they stay pink. I decided it was probably a misplaced Buffalo since I got some of them at the same shipment last year. This is only on one cane on the whole vine. There are four other bunches still pure green on the same vine and no other Catawbas have even begun to change at all.


Put on the thinking cap......


I am beginning to suspect that I have found a Bud Sport of Catawba which gives ripe fruit a full month earlier than normal Catawba. They also develop a much deeper color than normal. I'm exited and will eagerly follow this ones progress. I'm, going to try to pick up a small bird-net this afternoon so I can try to keep these bunches intact. I will get some pictures later showing the drastic differences this one cane exhibits!
Stay tuned......
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That's probably it Joan. Maybe I have had a couple too many Bud Lights myself seeing this mutation. I will have to log all observations of this particular mutation- if it really is. I'm going to monitor it and if it is any good, I will have to propagate it. It would be nice to get an earlier Catawba since they can ripen so late normally.
Here are a couple pictures. The bunches aren't big, but the cane they are on is a small one. The first one is the Sport(mutation) and the second is the noraml Catawba.




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got a small crusher for doing this season's grapes. No destemmer with it, but I'm waiting until next year to spend the extra money on one with the destemmer in it. I will catch the crush in the 20 gallon food grade container. I have several with sealable lids so I could ferment in them if they work well.





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WOW!!! On the 'sport'....hope you get to make many cuttings from that vine...The 'Champlain Grape'.


Your apples look like a good crop this year too. Are any falling yet??? Seems I can't keep up on the Duchess tree....an early cooking apple, makes fair juice.


Your grape crusher will make for good photos later...Hope your 'vision' comes true!!!Edited by: Northern Winos
 
apple,
Looks like you are going to be very busy soon. You must be so happy to be doing what you love.


Good Growing............Ramona
 
The grapes continue to ripen. I have measured Frontenac up to 22 brix and Leon Millot up to 18 brix. I want them to hang as long as possible, but they are starting to dissapear some. Not sure what has found them. There were some coyotes a week ago, but haven't seen tracks since. I saw a turkey a few days ago, but not since. Probably just song birds . Oh well, I'm not supposed to take a crop this year anyway - the joys of growing vines!





Here are a couple Frontenac


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A couple Leon Millot
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And how about a nice Mac? (Sorry Joan, yes I do grow them! They go well in cider!)


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Edited by: appleman
 
Your grapeslook great appleman. I had one vine that was slower to ripen then the other one so I left then to ripen more. I went to mow Saturday and they were all gone. There was only a few clusters onthis vine so I didn't lose very many. It was either the birds or the raccoons that got them. I don't know which one it was or may be both. I do have another vine that ripens later I will have to watch thosea little closer. Edited by: swillologist
 
Your Frontenac grapes are much further along than mine.....Your going to be making wine real soon. Ours are barely all purple....Hope they do get to ripen up here.....


You are going to be investing in a whole lot of netting next year or so.....Anxious to see your crusher in use and your wine making process.


We have been enjoying some cooler temps lately, nice for us, but not for fruit.....tomatoes are slow too.


Had a dandy storm last night, 82/100th's, maybe more today....wish it would have come a month ago....Too late for the soybeans, they have aborted the top podsand quit growing, the plants are shutting down production....maybe the beans in the pods will get a little bigger with this rain....Field corn is looking pretty good.


So it goes.
 

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