I think I have convinced my wife to let me plant a couple of apple trees in our backyard. My main objective was to plant a couple Honey Crisp trees. I have seen mention of dwarf specimens that are available - they look to attain 8-10 feet in height and spread. I plan to place an order this fall for delivery next spring. Check back for updates on this additional fruit-growing adventure.

Every year I feel I learn something new from my grapevines. This year has been no exception. The first few years after the vines became established, I found they did not seem to need much in the way of watering during the season. But with the semi-drought conditions of the past two years, I’ve realized that I need to pay more attention to the watering needs of my vines. In the last three weeks, I have used a homemade soaker hose to apply water to the vines and they seem to have responded nicely.

It should come as no surprise to me that the vines would respond to regular watering. I have been watching a maple tree in my yard the past couple of years and it has not grown too much. This past spring, I drove to fertilizer spikes in the ground on it’s dripline (which I have done in the past) and have watered it 2-3 times per week for at least 30 minutes at a time. The tree has responded extremely well. By mid-summer, I noted several shoots that had achieved 36″ of new growth! And many shoots had put on between 1 and 2 feet of new growth.

I guess I can sum up all of the above by saying that next spring I plan to install drip irrigation for my vines. Time will tell, but I think this is going to be the best for my vines in the long run.

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.

Greetings and Welcome!

Thanks for taking the time to read this latest edition of our newsletter. I know many of you are busy with your own vineyard maintenance this time of year so I truly do appreciate you taking some time away. I’ve always meant for this newletter to be an informative and fun read for my subscribers. And part of that means publishing it frequently enough to make it worth your while and timely. At times I have not been as timely in publishing the newsletter as at other times and for that, please accept my apologies. I aim to be more consistent in publishing a quality newsletter. Now, on to the latest edition!

Vineyard Weather
This spring has been cooler than most. During the month of May we have had many days in the 50’s and low 60’s when normally we ease into the 70’s. Finally we are seeing some warmer weather this third week of the month. One interesting weather item to note - in each of the past three years, we have had warm springs and then whammo! A leaf/bud killing frost the third week of May. So far this year this has not happened. So despite the overall coolness, we have not had a late spring frost either. Go figure!

Pest Maintenance
I took the pre-emptive step of spraying my Frontenac vines this spring with a 3-in-1 organic pesticide/fungicide. The name escapes me right now, but this particular product seems to keep the little beetles at bay that like to munch on the Frontenac buds. I think I caught it before they even started. Likely, I’ll need to re-apply in 2-3 weeks just to make sure I didn’t miss any.

Additionally, I plan to be more aggressive this year in keeping gophers out of my vineyard. In the past, I’ve tried a variety of repellents to no avail. This year, I plan to use traps to rid the vineyard of these buggers. Even at that, it feels like I’ll be swatting misquitoes with a broomstick. My vines grow adjacent to 160+ acres of fallow, native prairie. Check back for updates.

Vine Update
Valiant - just when I thought the last of my Valiant vines were toast they seem to be making a comeback this spring. For one reason or another, none of them did much last season. One did die and I ended up replacing that one with a vine from my ‘nursery’.

Prairie Star - the Prairie Stars continue to perform well. They are late-bloomers in every respect. It has taken quite awhile to get them established. But now that they are I’ve learned to really appreciate their ability/tendency to hold off on breaking bud until we are past our typical last frost. I’d love to get a small crop off of these vines in the fall.

Frontenac - last summer was a rough one in the vineyard and the Frontenacs seemed to suffer quite a bit in the heat and drought. I believe one young vine died in the process. But the rest have come back quite nicely. Frontenac is amazing for it’s ability to push buds out of every nook and cranny possible. Buds are swelling out of places I never would have expected them! Truly amazing!

Marquette - I need to pay some serious attention to my Marquette vines this season. At this point, one of them is definitely alive. I cannot tell if the other two are yet. As with any young vines, they will need a little extra watering this summer and a good dose of fertilizer.

Foch - this might be the year that I finally give up on my Foch vines. I have always had trouble with them getting nipped in the spring by a late frost. But this year, only a couple of my twelve Foch vines are breaking bud. The rest show little if any activity and what activity there is seems to be mainly shoots coming up from the roots. Its not worth my time to baby these vines through a Minnesota winter, so I may end up replacing them with Marquette vines.

Sabrevois - going into last season, I expected big things from my Sabrevois vines. Three of them seemed to be finally over the hump in terms of maturation. But I believe they were hit by my gopher friends and now none of them show any sign of life. Another vine I may end up parting ways with just due to the sheer effort that has gone into them with no results.

Thanks again for taking the time to read the Blue Door Vineyard Newsletter for May 2008! Please check back for future updates.

Don

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