Recent content by FutureFarm

Where are people buying Captan and other sprays required to keep these grapes healthy? A quick search of the big box stores near me isn't turning up anything yet. Maybe its a seasonal and out of season... I'm in Central Illinois.

Thanks everyone. Holes were dug and vines were watered in with 1 gal per vine. I think the plan is to let them grow as much as possible this first year and then select/tie the best cane to be the trunk once it goes dormant this fall.

4 Frontenac and 4 Frontenac Gris bare roots were delivered this morning. We are leaving town and not going to be back for 4 days. I'm also not convinced that we're done with killing frosts. Can/Should I plant these in 5 gallon buckets and transplant them again in May/June when I'm sure it...

I'm a very average 5'10", wife is a very average 5'6", and the kids are 4 and 2 so their height will be changing all the time. We've always liked Cayuga White and it seems to work is several different styles. I'm just a little hesitant about its suitability. Most of the wineries around here...

What material did you use for your trellis? I've seen treated fencepost but also read that you shouldn't use treated posts. Assuming the posts are 8' long, is burying them 3' deep to have a wire at 5' deep enough? Also, what varieties are you growing? Are they doing well?

I'm hopefully planting out vines this coming spring in Central Illinois (halfway between Chicago and St. Louis). The plan is to plant the area west of the shed with vines. Rows would run N/S. Rows could start at 72' and go up to 144'. I have a few questions: 1: Without getting into an...

I’m in the process of building a new house and moving to an acreage. One of the benefits of the new site is the opportunity to have vines of my own. The house is expected to be finished Fall 2024. In the spring 2024 can I buy some vines and keep them in containers at my current place until the...

I think what I “re-discovered” was brew on premises business model with more guidance/help. I’d seen that used for beer a couple places but never one focused on wine. Is anyone here doing something like that? What kind of licensing is required? If the wine is fermented/aged at the customer’s...

@Snafflebit This is probably pretty close to what I had imagined. I'm not expecting this to be my primary source of income. If it is just positive, that's good enough for me. I guess a simplified question would be, can you hire someone to produce your 100 gallons/person of homebrew? If not...

In our travels we’ve stumbled across a few very very small “wineries”. They seem to be doing 6 gallon batches. They all seem to offer custom wines where the winery consults with the customer about what the goals for the batch are, ferment and age on site, then when it comes to bottling, the...

I'm very interested in a semi long term review of your Little Hercules. Do you find that the chemicals wear out the roller pump and that it provides enough GPM at pressure to get good coverage?

I'm still in the process of planning a 500 case winery/vineyard in Central Illinois. One of the factors that seems to influence a lot of decisions when starting from a blank slate is tractor selection. Basically the way I see it in the vineyard you need horsepower for mowing row middles...

Are there any sickle mowers that mount to front end loaders instead of a bucket? Since sickle mowers require less hp than disk, drum, flail, or rotary mower it could allow a smaller tractor to mow row middles in one pass. I've found sickle mowers, but they're all offset to the side and wont...

What kind of sprayer do you use? How wide are your rows? How are you handling row middles? I've lived near Dayton OH and the weather and soil there is pretty similar to the weather where I'm considering putting my vineyard.

So If I'm following the plumbing correctly you have a tank => suction filter => pump => boom selector => booms. How is the pressure regulated? Is there tank agitation? I'm considering converting some of my corn/soybeans to a small vineyard, but don't know if I can justify the cost of an...