Greg's North Dakota Vineyard

[GreginND]

It's been a cool wet spring so far. But today I am finally seeing some bud swelling. Won't be long!!

 

[BobR]

That is sure a welcome sight!

 

[GreginND]

Update after another fun planting weekend.

The grape vines that were planted last year grew well and went dormant for the winter just fine. The first year of a vineyard is all about letting the plants establish a good root system. So they were just left to grow as much as possible. In March I pruned the vines down close to the ground with the intention of letting a few good buds near the base grow this year. I will select one or two of the best for my trunk of the vines. As you can see, the vines are starting to burst with growth:

This weekend I had another planting party to establish a small vineyard near the entrance to the property. Eighty Frontenac vines were put in with the help of volunteers. It was a beautiful day and the work went quickly.

Afterwards we had lunch and got to sample some of my experimental offerings:

 

[the_rayway]

Looks great Greg!

How did the MN1200 come out?

 

[fabrictodyefor]

Yikes, all the over there by Fargo! Looked at a map to see if maybe you were closer to the SW corner of the state! But you never know when a bike ride will take us that way. Looks like you had a great day. And I'll admit I would never have thought you could grow wine grapes this far north, but then I don't know much about growing grapes, just drinking the altered version! Thanks for the pictures.

 

[grapeman]

It is starting to take shape Greg. Before you know it, you will be in operation. Have the weeds started to grow yet? Hope the mallow is better behaved this year for you.

 

[mgmarty]

That's amazing Greg. Looks like tons of fun. Your lucky to get all that help!


Baco Noir and Seyval Blanc in Utah

 

[BobR]

Looking GOOD Greg!

 

[GreginND]

Yes, the mallow is already sprouting by the millions. My plan right now is to keep all the weeds down with my mower for the moment. I am getting posts delivered soon and will get my trellises put up. Once that is done I'm going to disc or till it all up again and plant grass. Unless the weeds get too out of control, I don't think I'm going to spray.

 

[blackspanish777]

Greg looks awesome! Can't wait to do mine in the future!

 

[LittleBearGameFarm]

Looks awesome and great thread. Been thinking about planting some and this thread helps a lot!

 

[OilnH2O]

Interesting to see how your vines are doing compared to the same/similar dates over here. Nice job - and nice barn!

 

[GreginND]

The grapes are growing great! And so are the weeds. We finally got our trellis posts so they will start going in soon. Once that's done I'll get grass planted in the vineyard and it should be looking good.

 

[ibglowin]

Greg has wood!

 

[grapeman]

Greg has wood!

And it looks nice and long, but a bit skinny...........................

 

[grapeman]

And the fun putting in the trellis is about to begin.

 

[GreginND]

I definitely need to get my wood into the holes.


Sent from my iPhone using Wine Making

 

[ibglowin]

Amen Brother!

 

[Runningwolf]

Lay 'em straight!

 

[GreginND]

Well, it looks like my newly planted frontenac vineyard was hit with an herbicide probably from the neighboring soybean field. Ugh. I have to find out how to contact the farmers. It's not so easy as they don't live right there. Fortunately it does not look like a growth regulator herbicide. The stems turned black, leaves that got hit are malformed and spotty, but new growth looks unaffected. So, they should recover. But if these were fruiting vines I'd have lost my crop. Definitely need to have some conversations. It's been real windy here the last few weeks and they should NOT have been spraying in 20 mph winds. I'm hoping the vines will recover and be healthy enough to overwinter this year.

Does anyone know where I can get those big signs to put around the edge of my property warning that there are herbicide sensitive crops?