New Maryland Vineyard

[SheridanVines]

Your project is really shaping up well. I can’t remember from your old thread, are you planning to sell your eventual harvest to a winery or start one of your own? lol

 

[Dustyfj]

Your project is really shaping up well. I can’t remember from your old thread, are you planning to sell your eventual harvest to a winery or start one of your own? lol

We have spoken very off the cuff and informally with a local winery any they expressed interested in buying the grapes. We may sell some but I think the plan is to become good wine makers and sell our own wine.

made the 7 1/2 round trip to Kencove early this morning to get the missing posts and hardware. Looking forward to more progress this weekend.

 

[Dustyfj]

Japanese beetles continue to be a problem, I need to be more proactive next year and get ahead of them.
I seem to have quite a bit of botrytis out there too.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

Nice work. I'll chip in a few things I've observed and practice. As for the snails, I'm of the opinion that they promote crown galling by damaging the cane near ground level. This has come to me after a few years of seeing these little devils and then seeing the same vines develop galling. This is one of my biggest problems and I've started to tackle the snail issue. I'm not sure about baits yet as I'm researching the issue. I have set some traps out (filled with cheap beer) to see how many I catch. As to Japanese Beetles, I have a 3 pronged approach. One, I treat the ground with milky spore bacteria in and around the vineyard. This kills the grubs in the soil and has GREATLY reduced the numbers I see. Second, I spray with Garden Tech Sevin (Zeta-Cypermethrin) at the beginning of the season (mid June here) and keep it up thru July. Lastly, I set traps as far away as you can possibly get them. If you don't have the acres, don't worry about them. Below is a shot of a day of trapping. I had to change the bags every day, sometimes twice. I don't have the issue this year like I have had in the past and haven't set any traps this year. PS. My wife is from the area (PA side), so I can be found traveling thru there often.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

I need to add that the milky spore treatment does not yield quick results. You'll start to see results after a year or so. Last year was the first year I saw a major difference, and this year is even better. It will also reduce the number of June bugs, and cicada as it kills grubs in the soil thru biological means. I buy mine from a local farm supply store, but you can get it online from places like Amazon.

 

[Dustyfj]

Nine more H braces banged together today in the humid 95 degree heat. No sign of the Japanese beetles for now. I have the bags on order from Amazon. I couldn’t find them at tractor supply.

 

[franc1969]

I have seen trash cans used- cut a hole in the top for the trap, dawn or similar detergent in water within the trashcan. When the bugs fall in, they can't get out, less bag emptying.

 

[Dustyfj]

I installed a beetle bag 30’ above the top and below the bottom of the rows. The bags seem to fill in about two days. I sprayed yesterday and the beetles seem to be 98% gone.

hanging a bunch of wires out in the heat today. Good fun! Nearly five rows completely wired.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

I installed a beetle bag 30’ above the top and below the bottom of the rows. The bags seem to fill in about two days. I sprayed yesterday and the beetles seem to be 98% gone.

hanging a bunch of wires out in the heat today. Good fun! Nearly five rows completely wired.

View attachment 76397

Lookin good!

 

[Khristyjeff]

I'll throw this out there regarding Japanese beetle bags.

One of my customers has a Phd in Agronomy and runs a Field Test Station for a major Ag Company. He says they use those same bags to measure the population of beetles within a certain radius, which I recall to be very large--100's of yards and maybe more than a mile for a single bag.

Since his application/research is more for midwest crops, I'd be interested to hear if any of you have been advised by your local (used to be Extension Agents) or University researchers that have a different opinion.

 

[Dennis Griffith]

Not sure how far they draw them, but it sure does pull them in from down wind. And I place them down wind from the vines as placing them on the upwind side just pulls them thru the vineyard with the promise of sex, and sometimes they stop for a snack on the way thru. So pay attention to your wind patterns when deciding on placement. I opt for them seeking sex before the snack!

 

[Dennis Griffith]

Just to let you know, I did set some snail traps out. I kept finding the tops off and the beer gone ?? Today I discovered the dog flipping off a top and sticking his snout down into the trap. And I thought I raised him better than to drink cheap beer. Guess I'll have to find another way to trap snails.

 

[Dustyfj]

I’m behind on posting but out there today drilling holes for next years vines.

https://youtube.com/shorts/ZB5lRCAOCjA?feature=share

 

[VinesnBines]

I wondered how you were doing. On Monday we finished putting in 320 vines in the main vineyard. We are just over two acres! And we put in 90 vines in the NOVA yard!

 

[Dustyfj]

I wondered how you were doing. On Monday we finished putting in 320 vines in the main vineyard. We are just over two acres! And we put in 90 vines in the NOVA yard!

Nice, sounds like a lot of work! I’ll have to road trip down to see it.

We finished planting about 275 yesterday. I’ve got a few days to rest before 230ish more come this week.

 

[VinesnBines]

Nice, sounds like a lot of work! I’ll have to road trip down to see it.

We finished planting about 275 yesterday. I’ve got a few days to rest before 230ish more come this week.

View attachment 87764View attachment 87765View attachment 87766

Looking great! I’m slow getting posts in and the darn things won’t stay in the ground. Looks like you have good help. It’s just us two old geezers.
We can only manage to plant 250 to 300 a year. In 2020 we planted 600 and it took 10 days! This year the weather was perfect and we were done in 4 days. That is from laying off and marking to final watering. We could use more rain now.
I’d love to see your vineyard. What varieties did you end up planting?

 

[Cynewulf]

Looking good! A friend of mine works for Montgomery County a bit south of you and the county just broke ground on Crossvines, which will be a custom crush facility available to Maryland growers: https://wjla.com/amp/news/local/the...-western-weller-development-revenue-authority. Sounds like it’s scheduled to finish in about two years - maybe around your first harvest!

 

[sour_grapes]

Looking good! A friend of mine works for Montgomery County a bit south of you and the county just broke ground on Crossvines, which will be a custom crush facility available to Maryland growers: https:// wjla.com/amp/news/local/the-crossvines-winery-montgomery-county-maryland-poolesville-custom-crush-facility-grape-growers-entrepreneurs-entertainment-venue-dining-weddings-golf-course-agriculture-reserve-marc-elrich-western-weller-development-revenue-authority . Sounds like it’s scheduled to finish in about two years - maybe around your first harvest!

Nothing to do with your content, but that is a hell of a URL!

 

[Cynewulf]

Nothing to do with your content, but that is a hell of a URL!

Lol, I thought the same thing when I pasted it. Looks like they tried to fill it with hashtags or something.

 

[Dustyfj]

What varieties did you end up planting?

Chardonnay, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and adding Cabernet Franc this year.
I hope to add more whites next season.