Highland Project

[USDragoon]

Hello everyone!

I'm a new kid around here, and I’m just starting out learning about growing grapes. I posted a lot of info in the introduction section. “off my rocker” is my post, regarding my location and climate.

To summarize the post, here’s the basic stats of my micro climate:

Westcliffe, Colorado
I am 50 miles directly west of pueblo in the Wet Mountains. The Sangre de Cristo Mountains are about 15 miles further west of me. They reach 13- 14000’

My Elevation = approx. 9000’ (google maps says 9300')
Lowest temp since we lived here was this past Feb at -35F with wind chill making it feel like -80F (started warming up after that)
Highest temps seem to be around 78F in summer for a few days.

Micro-Climate = Winter 3- 6 feet of snow (over 10 feet has been recorded, but not in the past 5 years we’ve lived here) with usually a 1-2 foot snow pack, except this past snow season.
Summer- dry from mid May until “monsoon season” which usually starts about mid/ late July until late August/ early September.
First Freeze- 1st or 2nd week in September
Last Freeze- mid to late May
Winds- Can reach hurricane strength. The strongest gust we’ve had in 5 years that we’ve been here was clocked at 125mph in the town of Westcliffe, which is 1200’ below us and 8 miles away on the valley floor. Sustained winds can last for what seems like months to us. 12-30 mph?
Sunshine- A lot! Also being so far up, I’ve been told the light does some amazing things for improving vegetables. They do taste better.
Average precipitation = roughly 17-25 inches per year.
Soil - Hard to describe… Our land used to be mining claims and had a lot of activity on it until some 70+ years ago. I’ll try it like this; where I would like to place my vineyard is slate like rock, with perhaps 4-6 inches of top soil on top. Haven’t tested PH there yet, although the PH around the house is between 4.6 and 5.5, if I recall correctly. Drainage is excellent for the vineyard plot.

I’m considering the Marquette vine for red wine (red is what we prefer), and also looking at the Valiant vine for juice/ table grapes. I want to experiment, so I’m considering only a dozen vines each this coming late April or May.

As for the wind, considering my wind issue not only dries out my land, but I’m concerned about wind damage to the vines, and my veggies. I’m getting with a USDA conservation guy assigned to my county to assist me in selecting trees for wind breaks. I am told by our county extension service that I should make my wind screen three rows thick, but they really don’t know a whole lot specifically, I’m finding out. They just hand me generic pamphlets and want my daughter to join 4-H.

I’ll try and take comprehensive pictures of my proposed vineyard site tomorrow and either post them here or on my web site for you guys to see and perhaps you’ll be able to give me some pointers or advice.

As for pest control… I have VERY tame and numerous mule deer, as my bane. The part timers/ vacationers feed them grain behind D.O.W’s back. I decided this summer I have to install a game fence, some 10’ tall around any gardening/ crop or vineyard venture. I tried just using Deer X this year around my one acre garden, and it failed. ($1000.00 fence project) Electric… no good. Repellants… no good. Can’t shoot the rats legally, so this spring I’m spending $3200.00 on a 10’ tall game fence for my garden. If I can select a vineyard site, I can order additional materials for enclosing the 24 vines as well.

As for watering, I want to incorporate a drip irrigation system from my well pump. Any ideas there would be great help too. I’m no plumber, and can barely tack two, 2 x 4’s together.

Whew! Long post! I hope this helps in getting some advice.
Thanks all!


Randy

 

[TxBrew]

Randy,

Somewhat old post but wanted to see if you started planting yet.

How much inches deep on that land can you get before you hit impermeable rock?

 

[USDragoon]

March 2012 Update

Its 4 March 2012 now and believe it or not, I think the worst of winter is over for us. Our weather outlook is calling for daytime highs in the 40's and 50's, with lows in the 20's. The ground may actually be workable in about a week or so. I do expect some heavy spring snows until May, which are much needed. We have only had 3 feet 8 inches fall on our land this season, which equates to about 3.75 inches of water.

I'm going to prepare about six holes total this month for an experiment using three Marquette red wine vines and three Valiant table grape juice vines to see if I can actually establish a vineyard over the next couple of years. I think it may hopefully prove beneficial to keep detailed records not only for myself, but also to post online in case this works or fails in case anyone as insane as me tries this in a similar environment. Even in failure there are lessons to be learned to enhance future potential success.

To answer the question about top soil depth, that depends on the spot. Some places I can go a few feet before hitting a shale type rock, while in other spots I don't have to go far at all. I do use a rock bar in setting wooden fence posts often enough to give the impression that I have a lot of rock though... lol
These days I'm spending the extra money on steel T- Posts to deal with the rock.

Cheers!

Randy