WINE GARDEN

[NorthernWinos]

Been scanning all the Nursery Catalogs and sent my order off to St. Lawrence Nursery a couple weeks ago....
Ordered:....
Pequot Black Raspberry...originated from the town where we use to live. Ordered 12 plants and will go down to the old neighborhood and dig some wild plants this spring. Hope under cultivation the will produce well....Crops were unreliable when they grew out in our old pasture....too many trees. Hope to get enough plants to fill the row where the fall bearing Raspberries use to grow.

Juneberries: Pembina and Martin... [Saskatoons] Want to compare them to the Native Juneberries we got from the County SWCS as well as we have a few plants that came from Nurseries with No Name.

Black Currants....Titania...want to grow big plants like Appleman.

So...Here is a question for Appleman....

I had noticed you grew your Titania Black Currants on a trellis system. Is this necessary???

We do have a short row in the garden that has wires left from where summer Raspberries grew. I could easily plant them there and make use of those posts and wires.

This is a tough time of the year....all we can do is dream....and...plan....and order...usually more than we need.

 

[grapeman]

Black Currants....Titania...want to grow big plants like Appleman.

So...Here is a question for Appleman....

I had noticed you grew your Titania Black Currants on a trellis system. Is this necessary???

We do have a short row in the garden that has wires left from where summer Raspberries grew. I could easily plant them there and make use of those posts and wires.

No I don't think it is necessary. I just have them planted at the end of a row of grapes and the trellis wires extend to the end. The bushes do grow to about 5 feet at maturity, so I figure it will help support them. How many Titania did you order?

 

[NorthernWinos]

I just ordered two...Had to fill the shipping quota.....Figured I could make more plants from cuttings, since they root so easily....Don't know if they are protected or not.

My row is about 10 feet long, maybe more....hard to remember...haven't been out there for months now...I do know how drab these walls are tho.
They say to space them quite far apart. How far apart are yours planted?

 

[grapeman]

They are 4 or 5 feet apart, I don't remember for sure. These root even easier than others. In their second year, I let a few of the small canes bend down and touch the soil and then I threw some soil over them. I will dig them up this spring and probably plant between the consort. When they get bigger I will probably yank the consort out unless they start doing a whole lot better.

 

[NorthernWinos]

We have Consort and Ben Sarek...Was also thinking about replacing the Consort with Ben Sarek....Made cuttings of both last year and didn't mark them...Didn't know there was such a difference in the plants till they fruited...I won't be able to tell which plants are what till they fruit....then mark them for giveaway or throw away.

Now, if only they could breed a really large fruited Red Currant.

 

[dragonmaster42]

Have y'all tried the white currants?


I just ordered a couple black (Ben Sarek), red (Jhonkheer Van Tets ) and white (Blanka)to try out in the garden this year. Never have grown them before, but they sounded interesting.

 

[NorthernWinos]

dragon....I just had to look up those Red Currants....They look really interesting. Will be anxious to hear how big of fruit you get off of them.

The Ben Sarek Black Currant are quite impressive, but the Titania that Appleman had looked even better.

Have not seen the white ones except in catalogs and will be watching for your reviews.

Isn't this fun....Ordering new plants....Trying to wait patiently for them to arrive...Planting and nurturing them....Then...the harvest and wine to enjoy.

It's all Good!!!!

 

[gaudet]

Yeah just waiting for my elderberries to come in another month.................

 

[dragonmaster42]

I'll be sure and report on them.


All the nursery and seed catalogs are pure temptation this time of year. I always want to get more than I really need or have room for.


I have a couple fairly clear butsemi-shady area's to garden (most of the property is on a steep hill covered in trees). When I got the place a few years ago,the whole placewas totally overgrown so I'm slowly reclaiming it. I got a chainsaw last fall, so I'm ready tofix some of the shade problems!!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Much to our surprise this morning the mail lady arrived with our shipment from St. Lawrence Nursery...usually the stuff arrives the 3rd week in April...Being as we have slushy snow on the ground...this is a very early surprise.

So, what to do???
I went with Jim [shovel in his hand] out to the snow covered garden area....The snow loved the heavily straw mulched Wine Garden....I took him to the old Garlic row that is resting and is now the home of many rose and flowering shrubs that I bought last fall during nursery close-outs....
He removed the few inches of wet sticky snow, pulled away the straw, and the ground was soft crystals of rich soil...He dug a trench and buried the new plants roots.....
12 Pequot Black Raspberries....
Martin and Pembina Service Berry [June Berry]
Titania Black Currant [huge plants]...do they survive and produce if the tops get frozen in harsh winters???

Meanwhile...under the lights...A sad story...
I lost a few of my Currant and Native Elderberry cuttings while we were in Mexico....Most of them are making new leaves tho, so all is not lost...Only a couple seem to have not made it. I had started watering them just once a week and they were fine....guess10 days was a true test...They are 'hardened off' and I am giving them a good chance to recover.

I finally started my pepper seeds yesterday, a few weeks late, but I think Jim will be doing most of the gardening again this year...will start the tomatoes and kole crops next...and, maybe a few annual flowers....

So, from the frozen North...Spring is still a promise....This unusually cold weather is good for all the flood victims, so it is a blessing for some.

Life goes on.

 

[pelican]

You are putting me to shame, NW.

My mini greenhouse is packed away in the shed, and there's not a bit of free space in the house to put it up even if I could dig it out of the snow. (all the free space is taken up by carboys and 4 liter jugs fermenting away though!) I think I'll be hunting up deals at the nursery rather than starting from seed - goodness knows I have plenty of seeds, just no way to start them off.

Sorry to hear about your losses. Doubt you would trade Mexico for transplants though

Hope the Pequot black raspberries take hold in their new beds!

 

[NorthernWinos]

Went out today and pruned 2 rows of grapes...

Uncovered the row of tender vines that grow on panels....stood up the young pliable vines and let the heavy vines lay for a few days to thaw out... or, at least acclimatize.

No signs of bud swell...actually most of what I pruned off was dry and dead....It was a pretty brutal winter in this area.

The Black Currents are all budded out nicely as well as the Juneberries...didn't look at much else.

Meanwhile...under the lights...All of the Elderberry and Black Current cuttings that had suffered a 'dry-spell' while we were in Mexico have come back to life...some with growth out of the top and some from the soil.

My sweetheart is trimming the flowers for me...

Plenty of mud outdoors...
Spring is making an appearance...

 

[Waldo]

Pstttttttttttt NW...You forgot to post the pictures...I know, im getting older too so I forgive ya this time...dont cry now !! come here and let me give you a

Just don't let it happen again..OK

 

[grapeman]

I don't know how you find the energy to keep going with all you are going through. I am in total AWE!


Not good about the grapes. Hopefully they aren't as bad as they look for you. The ones on the ground should be fine though.


I also noticed swelling buds and green from the Black Currants.


I don't even mind not having pictues since you describe things so well.

 

[dragonmaster42]

Fruit trees/plants that I put out a few weeks ago are all leafing out nicely down here.


black currants(3):

red currants (3):

3 white currants that looked about like the black currant plants


3sweet cherry and 3 tart cherry trees:

some red raspberries:

and 4 of the 6 small chokecherry trees have leafed out. No pics of them.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Dragonmaster....You have a real nice selection of wine plants going....Hope you keep Posting photos and name your Wine Garden so we can all follow your progress as well as follow all your Q & A's [if any].

All these fruit photos got me back outside this past week...doing a bit for the 'wine cause'.

Jim spent a few hours with the fruit trees one PM....He unwrapped the protective wire from around the young fruit trees...many suckers were growing inside the wire cages ....and, we hope the trees are now large enough to ward off any rodent/rabbit damage. Some have recovered from the heavy deer damage of their youth....other remain deformed, but coming around.

The older orchard [average 10 years] got pruned heavily by deer this past winter....didn't notice till we got up close and personal with the trees....Damn Deer!!!!

Jim had a new saw and I suggested he do a heavy pruning of the huge bottom branches....He didn't hesitate to take them off...usually I am hugging the trees and not allowing much removed. Being as he will likely be doing the lawn mowing again this summer, cutting those large/low branches out will make that task more enjoyable....We always get too many apples anyway and have lots of juice around....So...those trees do look so much better....they look taller and bigger with those bottom branches gone.

Jim spent a few hours cleaning out the roses, sweeping up the leaves and I fertilized the roses....so, that bed looks so much better.....Lots of die-back, so just had him take most of them down to the ground...easier that way.

Today we set out our plants that got delivered from St. Lawrence Nursery a couple weeks ago....all got placed in their permanent spots, except one where the soil was frozen.

Mostly I ride the Gator, give instructions and enjoy the sun....I love my job!!!!

Will try to get some photos one of these days....

 

[grapeman]

Thanks for the update NW. It sounds like you two are right on top of things.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Some signs of life in the Wine Garden....

Black Currants leafing out...

Apple trees...Pruned hard...By man and beast...

Time will tell what produces....

 

[OilnH2O]

And... LOOK -- NO snow! And green-up is starting!

 

[grapeman]

You wait and see- you will have bountiful crops to put up this year and Jim gets to do most of the work! Seriously though, I hope you get feeling well enough to help him out with tending the crops and steaming the juice.