Champlain Valley - Grapemans' vineyard - Planting to small winery

[farmer]

What type of taper are you using to tye up your vines ? I am in need of something for tying and have been looking at the Max Tapener - HTB or HTB2.





Any other suggestions?

 

[grapeman]

I use the Max Tapener. I have had it for about 15 years now and it still works so I continue to use it.

 

[farmer]

Just ordered a Max Tapener. It should last me a life time.

Thanks

 

[grapeman]

The weather sure is miserable lately. It has been hard to get a lot of pruning done with all the bad weather. Friday night and Saturday it rained almost 2 inches so I didn't prune. Today it snowed mixed with rain and the wind has been blowing 20-30 MPH- in general it sucks! I did prune a part of a row this afternoon until my toes and fingers hurt from the cold. I only have about 300 more to prune. Then on April 18 th we will prune at Willsboro. That should go fairly quickly I hope since we have helpers to do that.


I have about a month to get all my vines pruned and prepare two acres of ground for planting this years vines. I will put in almost 1500 of them if things go well. Time will tell.....


How is everyone elses progress going getting their vines pruned?

 

[NorthernWinos]

I've been thinking about it....

 

[grapeman]

Now I know it is too dang cold there for you to be out pruning! Hope spring gets there soon and you and Jim are up to tending the garden and crops for the year! Good luck and good wishes!

 

[farmer]

I was going to get at that job this weekend , it was muddy yesterday and we got 2 inches of snow last night and almost 50 today so it is really soft out there now.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Now I know it is too dang cold there for you to be out pruning! Hope spring gets there soon and you and Jim are up to tending the garden and crops for the year! Good luck and good wishes!

It kind of gets above thawing/freezing everyday, the sun is nice and warm now that it made it's return...Today we have a pretty stiff north wind....

I want to prune early as last year the tips of the vines were dripping from a brutal/late pruning.

Hoping that I can get to it before too long....Not much snow left out there and with many of the rows mulched mud shouldn't be an issue.

Thanks for the well wishes.

 

[AlFulchino]

1/3 done...was planning/hoping on doing a third this week...but our weather is just as bad

 

[AlFulchino]

hey Rich....what are you doing...if anything...for a post prune pre bud swell spray?

 

[grapeman]

I need to make that decision soon Al. I still need to finish pruning. I have been just a bit busy lately. I have been working non-stop with house plans for spring building. Then I spent the last two days until dark pruning vines at Willsboro. Friday was 65 and sunny all day. Yesterday was windy and raw with showers on and off all day. I still have just a bit of them to do- special cases. We are shifting the focus of the trial planting over to canopy management so we converted the vines from Umbrella Kniffen to a Top Wire Cordon with canes (long spurs). It was a lot of work.


Today I pruned what I could while supervising some land clearing. I took out the planting of apples at home near the vineyard. They have been going downhill for a few years now and were costing more than their worth. The guy got the trees out so I cleaned it up a bit and plowed and harrowed the strip. He will finish up tomorrow and I can get the rest of it taken care of. I sprayed Roundup on an acre plus Thursday evening in anticipation of plowing and harrowing before planting that parcel to vines. There will be about 650 vines in that piece.


So you can see- a typical spring while farming(only thing is it is a hobby for me now).


Al what did you have in mind for spraying?

 

[AlFulchino]

yep you sound busy


i was just wondering what you and the Cornel crew do regarding post prune, and pre but swell applications...ie stylet oil, dithane, elite, pristine etc


also, i have been searching my files for that bird netting i told you about last year and cannot find my notes...but i recall thinking that you bought a roll or two to try out....can you refresh my memory on what the name of thst stuff was...i would appreciate that....did you try it last year? what did you think if so?

 

[grapeman]

I don't remember what brand that was Al. I will try to remember to check as time permits. I recall what you are talking about, just not the particulars- at least I know you have CRS also and a bit younger!


The Willsboro vineyard is on a farm that emphasises organic- so we don't spray when not necessary. Like I said before, if we don't have a disease present, we don't spray. You could probably do a stylet oil if you want and then adjust to needs as the season unfolds.

 

[AlFulchino]

Rich, what do the Cornel boys use in their organic repertiore?

 

[grapeman]

It's not that simple Al. The vineyard is in no way shape or form organic. WE DO NOT HAVE A SET ROUTINE- DO NOT TRY TO FOLLOW IT! The rest of the farm(Several hundred acres total) does a variety of research trials, from hay to corn to wheat and so on. Those are the areas that use as much organic as possible. The trials vary every few years depending on what research worker is doing.


In the vineyard we spray minimally with the rest of the farm in mind. We are on the eastern side of the farm. I am not allowed to give recommendations for spraying. If you want a guideline you would need to refer to the NY / Pennsylvania IPM Guide for general recommendations. Not trying to be vague- just policy.

 

[AlFulchino]

Hi...i do use the ipm guidelines...i was just wondering about the sprays that they use on their vines during dormancy leading up to bud swell and bud break

 

[grapeman]

Al I can't speak for all the vines in the Cornell system, but at Willsboro we use no spray before budbreak. Because the farm uses as little spray as necessary, that's the way I treat the vines. I use no spray unless there is a need for it. I wish I had a better answer for you to spray X at such a time and Y at the next and then Z, but we use a minimalist regime. At the experiment station many of the grapes are grown with zero spray because they are developing resistant varieties.


I can say thet the first spray I use for a fungicide has been Dithane, however at a chemical meeting I attended a month ago, they were saying that dithane is not available this year. There is still Manzate which is very similar. I normally start out with Manzateearly in the season. You need to observe a 66 day to harvest interval however so you stop using it a few weeks after bloom.


I wish I was more help............ As always follow the label for your state.

 

[grapeman]

Is anyone interested in seeing a few pictures of some newly cleared land before prepping for planting grapes on? We got some more of the brush and scrub trees taken off another half acre today. There are a few more trees to remove and a huge stump, but the ground is still frozen under them so it needs to wait a few more days.


I plowed where the apple trees were yesterday after their removal and harrowed the area. I went today and picked up the 6 foot York rake to level it better. I would like to get a box blade with ripping teeth to level the area we took the big trees out of. I would wait a couple years to prep the ground, but I know it is fertile enough and deep enough to level and plant this year. This is fun, but I will enjoy getting past this busy time so I have more time for the forum and other things.

 

[NorthernWinos]

Pictures!!!
Pictures!!!!!
Us want's Pictures!!!!!

 

[Travisty]

Pictures of planting would be awesome!