Minnesota grapevines near evergreen trees

[SeniorHobby]

Grapes definitely like 'dry feet' as they say. I have a corner of my vineyard that is wet all summer when there is normal rain fall. It does not do well at all those years. Last year with little rainfall, it did OK but the rest of the vines did much better. This was a row that I did not have dug out 3'x3' before planting. The row right next to it that was dug before planting does just fine with normal rain fall.
I am located between New Ulm and Mankato so a ways south of Willmar.

I have a son living down that way. It is a little bit of a hike from here. They have some nice side hills which look like they would be good for growing grapes!

 

[ChuckD]

Interesting. I have heard talk about birds and that you want to keep them out so the droppings don't become part of the wine harvest. I will have to do some thinking yet. I also have a couple of blueberry plants that I am trying to limp along. This summer will be my 3rd year. Not growing too tall from the first two years. Sounds like I need a soil additive to make them do better.

Blueberries need acidic soil. And as BigH said, it’s really hard to push the pH of a basic soil down. They have a lot of buffering capacity. In my area I was told to dig a three foot square hole three feet deep and fill it with peat and pine compost. Even then the acidity will leach out of the soil in a few years. I gave up!

 

[SeniorHobby]

Blueberries need acidic soil. And as BigH said, it’s really hard to push the pH of a basic soil down. They have a lot of buffering capacity. In my area I was told to dig a three foot square hole three feet deep and fill it with peat and pine compost. Even then the acidity will leach out of the soil in a few years. I gave up!

Oh my, didn't want to hear that! No such think as adding a acidic powder on the soil each year?
I am starting a chokecherry wine, haven't found a recipe yet. Would you ferment it separate then blend it later or is there something I could add to it in the primary to spruce up the flavor?

 

[Ohio Bob]

If you have enough of a single fruit to make a full carboy, then I would ferment them separate and blend closer to bottling. If you only have a few pounds of this and that then I guess there’s not much choice but to put it all together. You might find that 25% is the limit where one fruit dominates the blend, you can’t taste anything else. In that case it’s too late to unblend it.

If you don’t harvest enough to make a full batch you could always freeze it and accumulate until you do. That’s an advantage of fruit winemaking. In fact it’s beneficial to freeze the fruit to extract more juice/flavor. You also aren’t tied to the grape season schedule-wise.

 

[SeniorHobby]

If you have enough of a single fruit to make a full carboy, then I would ferment them separate and blend closer to bottling. If you only have a few pounds of this and that then I guess there’s not much choice but to put it all together. You might find that 25% is the limit where one fruit dominates the blend, you can’t taste anything else. In that case it’s too late to unblend it.

If you don’t harvest enough to make a full batch you could always freeze it and accumulate until you do. That’s an advantage of fruit winemaking. In fact it’s beneficial to freeze the fruit to extract more juice/flavor. You also aren’t tied to the grape season schedule-wise.

Thanks OhioBob, I did find a thread which calls for adding white raisins to the chokecherry wine. I don't have the white raisins so I added regular raisins...who knows what I will come up with!!

 

[ChuckD]

Oh my, didn't want to hear that! No such think as adding a acidic powder on the soil each year?

I think it’s a sulfur compound you have to add to try and maintain the acidity but from what I’ve heard it’s a never ending battle. You should take your soil test results to your friendly horticulture agent and have a discussion with them to see if it’s feasible.

 

[SeniorHobby]

I think it’s a sulfur compound you have to add to try and maintain the acidity but from what I’ve heard it’s a never ending battle. You should take your soil test results to your friendly horticulture agent and have a discussion with them to see if it’s feasible.

I'm kind of one of those gardener's where I try something and if it needs to be babysat to much "you're outta here!"