[NorthernWinos]

Wanted to post some photos of our trellis system...ours is a very common way to tie up the vines, and....might look a bit 'over-built' or 'heavy- duty', but we haven't had any problems with any sagging of the wires or jacking-up of the end posts.

The end posts were braced well to prevent the end post from moving or lifting out of the ground from the wires pulling from the weight of the vines on them.


Once the vines start to grow it's nice to have a post to tie them to, that way you can get the vine growing upward at a young age.....even tied to a temporary post will get the vine started so the tendrils can grab onto the wires.


There is an awful lot of weight on those wires once the vines mature.Not only the weight of the woody vines and leaves, but hopefully the weight of the fruit.
We used a double strand twisted wire, like a 'barb wire' without the barbs...it will not stretch or sag.


Hope this helps anyone who wants to build a strudy trellis system with no faults in the future....better to be 'over-built' than to have your vines and fruits sagging onto the ground.

[Waldo]

So how many gallons of wine do you get from your vineyard Wino? What varietal of grape are you growing?

[jobe05]

Very nice vines NW, makes me jealous I wish I had more land to do something like that. I like your planning ahead, Good Job





What are the berry bushes behing the grape vines in one of the pictures....... Blackberries? ......... Rasberries?......

[NorthernWinos]

Thanks Guys....mostly what I wanted to stress with these photos is to build your trelliss strong and tough...It is amazing how heavy those vines get when they are loaded with leaves and an extra canopy of excess leaves, plus the weight of the fruit.....build your trellis heavy duty.
Those vines are Beta and Valiant...a super hardy juice grape. We are not into jam and jelly, [except for Jalapeño jelly] so I make breakfast juice with those particular grapes. Got 70 quarts of breakfast juice last year, so easy with the steam juicer....they taste just like Concord.
However.....today I mixed up a Welch's Concord wine [being as the last batch was a hit] and to today's batch I added some of my juice, just to see how it tastes.
I have planted some wine grapes too...all kinds...only hardy ones...one or 2 of Edelweiss, Swenson Red, Kay Gray, King of the North, Frontenac, and last year some Louise Swenson and Baltic Amber...think thats all of them..?...anyway, in the photos, they are under the snow....I grow them on a 8 foot wide X 40 inch tall wire panel that is tied to a post, in the fall I lay the panel down and cover with straw and usually a nice dependable layer of snow...It is a test to see how they grow and produce and then the good ones will be propagated.Some of the above mentioned ones will be hardy enough to hang on the trellis, but till they get a few years growth I am babying them.
The canes out there are Raspberries, summer and fall varieties. Raspberries are very easy to grow, I think they might grow all over the country....not sure tho.I am looking at some red/black hybrids, should be fun to try.I also have strawberries, Juneberries, rhubarb and other stuff out there under the snow...if it has any chance of surviving here, I'll give it a try. As well we have apple, crabapple, newly planted hardy pear, cherry and some plums, so time will tell....love to make my own breakfast juices, and now of course WINE

[bilbo-in-maine]

NW - have you had to contend with any diseases, pests or animal predators
bothering the grapes? If so, do you use sprays or bird netting and other
solutions to drive off the critters? Your training system looks like the Four
Arm Kniffen system - have you trained all your varieties the same way?

Sorry for all the questions - I am impressed and very curious.

Bill

[NorthernWinos]

Originally Posted by bilbo-in-maine

NW - have you had to contend with any diseases, pests or animal predators
bothering the grapes? If so, do you use sprays or bird netting and other
solutions to drive off the critters? Your training system looks like the Four
Arm Kniffen system - have you trained all your varieties the same way?

Sorry for all the questions - I am impressed and very curious.
Bill

The Beta are disease free... The Valiants are a problem, but have some Bordeaux [Bordo copper] spray to try, seem sanitation helps...keep the soil free of the diseased 'mummies' and dead leaves...and work the soil under the vine. The other new varieties are suppose to be disease free, or near disease free....it limits your choice of varieties, but think it might be a better choice in the long run.
With the 'tender' wine grapes that I am attempting to grow.... I am growing in a fan pattern on the wire panel, no stiff trunk to try to bend over in the fall. So will let new vines grow from the base as the older ones get stiff and hard, so hope to let young supple vines grow up each year.
The hardy wine grapes I will try to train in the 4 arm system like my 'old-timers'.
Birds....Last year the Cedar Waxwings ate all the Mountain Ash berries and didn't leave, they hung around and started to work over the fall raspberries and grapes, I threw some bird netting over the plants...worked great, but 'un-handy' to harvest.
Critters.....had some bunny damage to the young vines....[the bunnies suffered some 'lead' damage]....they are sneaky...have some bunny traps out there too...as well as 3 dogs....the deer haven't bothered the vines and canes, but love fruit trees. Think deer will eat anything you cherish. We are very rural, lots of critters to deal with, even black bears and occasional moose, don't have to beat the wolves from the door, but hear them howl.
I also have learned [the hard way] even with these very hardy grapes that it is best to also have a young vine trained at all times to replace the old gnarled trunk...some of my old trunks split last winter from the freezing/thawing in the spring...as tough as they are....some of them died to the roots...new plants came, but will take 2 or 3 years to grow back.....
So...If you live in a cold area ....always let some young shoots grow up along with your main trunk, just as a future replacement. In the book Northern Wineworks he mentions that too.http://www.northernwinework.com/buy.htmlA good book for northern growers.Southern growers probably have other problems to deal with.
Grapes are fun to grow, but you do need some space, full sun, good drainage, good air circulation and time.

BTW...I got 10 gallons of Raspberry/Apple Wine and 6 gallons of Raspberry/Red Grape Wine off of those Raspberry plants in the photo.....planted another row of Raspberries last summer from suckers that continually grow from the bases of the plants....Raspberries make delicious wine!!!! Try making some!!! It screams "Gimmie Chocolate!!!" Edited by: Northern Winos

[NorthernWinos]

Don't be intimidated about growing fruit...just try it...learn by trial and error, or by luck...just try, you might surprise yourself!!!!

[Bert]

Man that looks great....you said we should get togather sometime...PWP and I would love to see your vines and stuff growing....hope we can make it happen....looks great.

[bilbo-in-maine]

Thanks for the rundown NW. I'm currently clearing some trees on the
ridge up above the house in preparation for a small vineyard. Soil test
underway, a load of manure on order, and some vines ordered. Like you, I
am limited to the cold-hardy hybrid varieties. I will put in around 25
plants consisting of Frontenac (and F. Gris), Landal Noir, Marechal-Foch,
St. Croix and St. Pepin. Four reds and two whites. I'm finding it difficult to
wait for the end of mud season and planting time in May and June.

Seeing your plants and trellises is great. Thanks again for putting them
up!

Bill

[NorthernWinos]

Sounds like a winner....stuff is visible in spring and summer...we can hoist a few....