Mid-May in the Vineyard

I promised some May photos of early shoots on our vines...

A LaCrescent shoot just beginning to bud out.

Sabrevois bud on May 19th

Somerset Seedless looking good

June, 2013 Bluff Stone Vineyard Sign Installed!

We finally have our beautiful white cedar sign installed.  It has been almost a year-long project beginning with a sketch by the craftsman who milled the floors for our home.  Michael and I located the cedar 5" x 5" timbers last summer.  When the foundation was poured for our home, our kids helped us build the wooden form for the concrete sign base.  We were then able to fill the forms with some of the "leftover" concrete.  Later on, Michael and I did the stonework on the supports.  We had a welder build and powdercoat the  iron frame.  In the meantime, I sketched out the text on brown paper to be sure we liked the size of the lettering.

A few weeks ago our son Dan and daughter Kate did the sandblasting in Dan's yard.  Michael and I were there to photograph the event.  We varnished and painted the sign before hanging it one week ago.  Now we are official!

Building the frame for the base  

Bricklaying is very difficult!

Wayne, the craftsman who milled all our hardwood flooring and
trimwork, looks over the timbers for our sign.  He glued and
planed them.

Mockup of the sign

The site is ready.

Kate cutting the sandblasting stencil for the lettering

Kate ready to sandblast

Dan taking a break from the sandblasting (took 3+ hours)

Ready to varnish and paint

Final touches on the paint

F

This puppy isn't going anywhere--

Springtime in the Vineyard - 2013

On Thursday and Friday, May 2 & 3, 2013, we experienced about 17 inches of snow!  Fortunately, it didn't last long.  A week later our kids were down to help us plant a few trees.

Lily and Tom planting a crabapple tree

Our May 11th Tree Planting Crew

We moved into our house, from the apartment in our pole shed, on March 12th.  In March and April we completed pruning all the vines in the vineyard.  Following that, we made sure all vines were properly supported with ties. 

Most vines seem to have made it through the winter and are now budding.  I am having problems downloading photos to this blog, but will try again tomorrow.  We have some nice "spring" photos to share.

Completing the Geneva Double-Curtain Trellis System

A number of family and friends helped us construct the trellis systems needed for our two-year-old vines.  More robust varieties require a stronger trellis system.  The one we chose to go with is called Geneva Double-Curtain, which gives vigorous vines plenty of room to grow and lots of sun exposure.  The vines we are putting on these trellises are the Sabrevois, LaCrescent, Prairie Star, Marquette, Somerset Seedless (a table grape) and next year we will add the King of the North. 

The less-robust grape varieties, like Louise Swenson, are growing on a Four-Arm Kniffen system.

Our neighbor, Richard, cut white oak boards for Michael to use for the 4 foot
cross-arms needed for the Geneva Double-Curtain trellises.
 

First completed end-post. 

                                             One row completed with cross-arms and wire!

 Training two-year-old vines up to the high wires
 

Kate worked hard this summer to help us train vines onto the high wires.

 

Kate with an example of a vine on Four-Arm Kniffen.

May 5th, 2012 Planting Party

Over twenty friends and family members came in early May to help us plant phase two of the vineyard--something over 400 additional vines.  The weather held out until after lunch this year. 

A week earlier, Kathy, Tom, Connie, and Hank measure and flag locations for new vines.

Michael and his sister Kathy checking out bare-root vines.

Joanie is ready to work!

                                                         We keep the laborers happy!

                                              Angie and Beth, two friends, came to help.

Dan and friend Jen

Greg and buddy Dean watering the newly-planted vines

 

Two people can water at once!

 

Greg, Jeremy, Dan, and Dean setting out the grow tubes.

 

 

Cathy chills with Dan's dog Lady 

 

 

Two happy grape growers

 

During our lunch break, the rains came---

 

 

                                                              Mission accomplished!

 

 

By the end of the day, new vines were planted, a great catered lunch was enjoyed by all, and (despite the after-lunch 2"+ rain) grow tubes were put back onto all of the vines planted last year.

 

Grow tubes serve as a mini-greenhouse, keeping the newly emerging buds warm and moist.  On the two-year-old vines (which had been pruned back to one-foot height or less), the grow tubes are kept on for only a month or so, until the vines are sprouting nicely.  For the newly-planted vines, the grow tubes protect all the new growth through most of the summer, but were removed in August, so the stems can "harden-off" (get a bit woody) prior to winter.



We've Not Posted In A While...

Much has happened in the past several months--we've sold our Eagan home, moved in temporarily with our son Dan til we both retired, then moved permanently to Lake City.  In the process we closed our Comcast accounts and mistakenly thought we could no longer post to this blog.  We do not have Comcast e-mail addresses any longer, so if you want to contact us, go to either mwittek@bluffstonevineyard.com or cwittek@bluffstonevineyard.com. 

Very soon, we will update the blog with spring planting photos and all the latest on completing our trellis-building plus the beginnings of our home construction.  I also want to create a link to directions in case you'd like to pay us a visit.

Early Spring 2012 Vine Pruning

In March, Kate and Dave helped us prune all the vines.  Since they are "one-year-old vines," they needed to be pruned way back to just the main trunk and three or four buds.  Because it is so early in the spring (we've had May-like weather for a while) and there is a good possibility we could still have a freeze, we were afraid to trim things down that drastically.  So we left more like 10-15 buds on everything (and sometimes three trunks).  We will prune again later when we know the possibility of frost damage is past.

Vines are pruned and looking good!



Burning all the prunings