I spent some time in the vineyard this afternoon tending to some maintenance issues I’ve had on my mind lately. I removed a few vines that were completely dead and moved a nursery vine in to replace one. I also tied a few vines back to the wire and trimmed off some shoots near the ground on my Frontenac vines.

So at this point, I have 6 Foch vines left from an original number of twelve. They’ve been slowly dying out as they either can’t take our winters (and this last one was bad) or they leaf out too early in the spring and get hit by frost. The 6 remaining vines are all pushing shoots from the ground (now about 6-9″).

I also removed two dead Valiant vines, one dead Frontenac vine (gophers did them both in) and the remaining Sabrevois which were all dead. I had a replacement for the Frontenac. At this point, I’m trying to come up with a plan for a few open spots in the vineyard. I’d like to acquire some more Marquette and Prairie Star vines. In the long run, I think these two vines can be stars and ultimately will produce best for me.

On the bright side, the Frontenac vines look good. The Prairie Stars are also coming along. At this point, I just need more of each. Check back for future updates on my progress this season.