Newsletter Volume II, Issue 4 (July 2004)
| Welcome Welcome to the July 2004 edition of our newsletter. After a cool, wet month of May and early June, the past few weeks have been warmer and dryer. Consequently we have witnessed unprecedented vine growth. Also we have experienced minimal (knock on wood) predation by deer, rabbits, gophers, etc. Read on for all the fun details!  Newsletter Contents Tell your friends about our newsletter!  |
| Latest News Despite a cool and wet month of May and early June, we have had pretty good grape-growing weather for the past few weeks. Its been warm and dry. Consequently the vines have been growing explosively - the Valiants and Frontenacs are now up on the trellis and the Foch are (with the exception of one plant) nearing top-wire height!  We have been monitoring the vines for nibbles from the neighborhood deer and rabbits and so far it has not been too bad. We have been using a combination of Bonide spray repellent (odor and taste) and fishing line. The fishing line is strung around the perimeter of the vineyard at chest height for a whitetail and acts as an invisible barrier to the deer. The theory is that being mostly nocturnal, they will not see the line. When they walk into it and feel the resistance, they are redirected. Since stringing the line, we have only had one occasion of deer predation. For the most part, the vines are out of the reach of the rabbits. |
| Trellis! This month we have finally begun installing our trellis. We had installed the posts about a year and a half ago, but had not strung wire. With this season’s growth by both the Valiant and Frontenac vines (not to mention the Foch!), it has become a necessity. So we purchased a roll of 12.5 gauge high-tensile wire and the necessary hardware and so far have strung wire for the rows of Valiant and Frontenac and hopefully in the next week or so for the Foch.  For now, the wires are strung at 30″ and 60″ in each row. We are leaving open the option of a divided trellis if rampant growth becomes a problem with our spacing (6 x 6). Hardware-wise, here is our materials list: - 1000 feet of 12.5 gauge high-tensile wire |
| Weather Notes Overall this has been a cool season for us. So far this year we have had two days over 90° F whereas normally we have had 15 days over 90° F by this time. The early part of the season was also very wet - we barely needed to water newly-planted vines during May and early June. Then in mid-June we hit a dryer stretch, but the temperatures were still only hitting the upper 70’s for daily highs. This pattern held until the last week where temperatures have climbed into the mid to upper 80’s with high humidity levels. Despite the cooler than normal weather pattern, the vine growth this season has been nothing short of phenomenal!  Vineyard Status Prairie Star - In our last newsletter we mentioned that all of the Prairie Stars were dead. Well, we were wrong! About 3 weeks ago, we noticed one of them had pushed shoots from below ground. We quickly grow-tubed, fertilized and watered it. In the past couple of days it has begun peeking out of it’s tube! Also - the Prairie Stars in our Hudson, WI vineyard continue to make good progress. Several of them have pushed 4 feet of growth this season. We may transplant these vines to our Lake Elmo vineyard in the future. Frontenac - The Frontenacs have probably experienced the most growth of any of the vines we have. Four of the plants were pruned to 2 buds this spring. Each of these has now grown past the top trellis wire - over 5 feet of growth. A couple plants are way beyond this and have been topped already. We expect to harvest a small crop of fruit at the end of next season. Sabrevois - Two of our 3 Sabrevois from last season have come back and are doing ok. They have achieved about 3 feet of growth. Only one of the new bareroot vines has shown any growth. We have been a bit disappointed in that, but will make do and take cuttings to fill in the rest of the row. Two of the Sabrevois in our Hudson, WI vineyard survived and are thriving this season. We may end up transplanting these vines to Lake Elmo in the future. Marechal Foch - The Foch started out this season as nursery-started plants. We grow-tubed and fertilized them and watered them regularly during the dry part of early summer and they have also shown explosive growth. 11 of the 13 vines are now up to 4 feet high. We will be installing trellis wire for them as they will definitely need it by the end of the season. These will be the most tender vines we have in the vineyard and we plan to protect them accordingly so they can survive the upcoming winter. Our plan is to hill up dirt around their bases up to 8 inches deep. This may evolve over time as we gain experience with the Foch. Thanks! Our next newsletter should arrive in your inbox sometime next month. In the meantime, thanks for reading and take care! Don’t forget to tell your friends about our newsletter! |
Blue Door Vineyard’s Grapelog :: Grape-growing, winemaking & wine » Newsletter Archive Said,
March 13, 2007 @ 9:46 pm
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