Tag Archive for: grape growing

Growing Grapes in your TX Backyard

shows bud breaking in spring on newly planted vine

bud break on newly planted vine

So, you would like to grow some grapes?  Well, you’re in the right state. 

Texas is home to the most native varieties in the world.   These vines evolved over thousands of years resistant to disease and bugs and are used as rootstock throughout the world.  (For more of the story, check out http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/southerngarden/Texaswine.html).  In fact one of the rootstocks used is named Dogridge, and it is named for the ridge on the north side of Stillhouse Lake, right in the heart of Bell County.

I find that the biggest obstacle to growing grapes is the birds, deer and raccoons.  For a quick video overview, check out http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/video/detail.php?vidid=73&size=largevid

The next problem is selecting the appropriate variety.  It is highly recommended that you chose a variety that is resistant to Pierce’s Disease.  Among commercial growers, Black Spanish (a.k.a. Lenoir) and Blanc Dubois are the most favored.  A comprehensive list can be found at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruit/piercegrapes/pdr.html and also at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/fruitgarden/figure3.html

Now that you’re ready to buy, head on over to Womack Nursery, http://www.womacknursery.com/grapes.html.  While you’re there, pick out some rasberries, peaches and pecans for your yard too, so you won’t be so disappointed if the grapes don’t work out!

For advice on building an arbor, check out http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/homefruit/grapearbors/grape.html

And for more research, there are plenty of good articles at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/lawn_garden/ and http://winegrapes.tamu.edu/.

Prospective Grapegrower Classes

 PROSPECTIVE WINEGROWER WORKSHOP FROM AgriLIFE EXTENSION

The Prospective Winegrower Workshop is a one-day educational program designed to provide an overview of the unique requirements and risks associated with the establishment and operation of a commercial vineyard in Texas.  These workshops are offered through the Texas AgriLife Extension Service.

FEE: $125, lunch is provided ($200 per couple)

 REGISTER ONLINE: http://agrilifevents.tamu.edu

 The Prospective Winegrower Workshop serves as a prerequisite for application to the Texas Viticulture Certificate Program, offered by Texas Tech University and Texas AgrilLife Extension.

 2010 CALENDAR:

June 10th – Childress, TX – instructor: Dusty Timmons

July 19th – Stephenville, TX – instructor: Fran Pontasch

August 6th –  Houston, TX – instructor: Fritz Westover

October 12th – Pittsburg, TX – instructor: Fran Pontasch

November 18th – Fredericksburg, TX – instructor: Penny Adams

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Grape Pickers needed Saturday 7:30 am, AUG 22nd

harvest time!

It’s time to HARVEST the red grapes (merlot, cabernet sauvignon, sangiovese)

Time:  7:30 AM – until finished (okay, whenever you roll out of bed, but I’LL be out there early BEFORE it gets too hot)

Date:  Saturday, August 22nd, 2009

Location:  21724 Hill Road, Salado, just take I-35 exit 279, half mile up the hill from interstate

Bring:  Sunscreen, bug spray, big hat, pruners (optional-we’ve got plenty to lend)

Dress comfortably.  I recommend shoes and socks because I always manage to stand on an ant mound and don’t notice until it’s too late.  It’s kind of late for chiggers and should be too dry for mosquitoes, but you might want bug spray.

Watch out for wasps, spiders, mockingbirds, ants.  This year I haven’t seen a single snake in the vineyard, so no worries. 😉

Hope you can make it, if not we’ll have more chances next year!

When’s Harvest?

I took samples of the grapes this morning in order to attempt to project when the grapes will be ready to harvest.  I wish that I could harvest them now, as the birds and raccoons keep trying to take some, but it appears that we’ve got some weeks to go.  My method is to pick random grapes within a variety, mash them up in a baggie, then taste the juice and measure the sugar.  The sugar is measured in degrees Brix and the goal is to get a number 24.0-26.0. 

(If you’re reading this on the blog, you can click on the pictures to see close-ups.  If you’re reading this on facebook, that feature probably will not work)

The cabernet sauvignon has the furthest to go, as you might notice in the picture, there are bright green seeds.  The cab also tastes the most green.  The flavor reminds me of the green apple jolly rancher candies I sucked on as a kid.  Very tart!  The Brix was 20.0 degrees, but these grapes need to loose the tartness.  I think it might be 4 weeks before these cabernet grapes get soft and gentle flavors.  No one wants a cabernet sauvignon that tastes sour!

The sangiovese are going to have to hang a while longer as well.  Though they are a favorite of the local raccoons, their Brix is only 18.2.  Their seeds are mixed, brown and beige with a little green.  In the picture you might notice that all the skins are not very dark yet.  The taste was like an apple.  Starting to smooth out, but if the brix does not get higher, it will be tough to make much alcohol (2 degrees Brix typically produces 1% sugar).  I think these grapes are probably once again destined to be a blush.

The chardonnay is closest to harvest with brown to dark brown seeds.  The skins are starting to get a golden, almost transluscent look.  The grapes had a very tropical flavor, specifically pineapple & mango.   Chardonnay grown in a hot climate typically picks up a tropical flavor.  Think Yellow Tail from Australia, not chardonnay from France.  I think we might harvest these grapes on Saturday, August 8th.  The brix is only 19.5, but the number is similar to last year and it shot up in August quickly last year.  I had the irrigation water on yesterday, and if I don’t give the vines any water for the week before harvest, then I’ll be able to get the brix up.

Then there’s my merlot.  I suspect this is the best grape for me to grow.  The brix was 21.4 and I’ve got plenty of green in the seeds so I’ve got a few weeks to get that number up.  Hopefully it will not be too hot, and more importantly, I hope the raccoons don’t discover this sweet treat!

Raccoons in the Vineyard

raccoon

raccoon

She might look innocent, but this girl weighed 25-30 pounds and I suspect she gained that weight eating my sangiovese grapes!  It took a few nights to figure out what else she might like to eat so we could lure her into our trap.  She turned up her nose at crusty crackers (I guess those grapes are a lot sweeter) and she wasn’t suckered when I threw some extra grapes in the trap either.  Finally I remembered Les Constable’s advice from Brushy Creek Vineyards.  He suggests baiting the trap with a hard boiled egg.  That was it–I found her Wednesday morning in the trap.  She was so heavy, I could hardly carry her to the car.  She was then entered into the Vineyard Witness Relocation Program.  I took her to my home and released her there.

I’ve spotted 3 other raccoons so I tried the egg trick again on Wednesday night.  Well her friends are smarter than me, and they figured out how to get the boiled eggs out, without setting off the trap!  So here I am, 2 master’s degrees and these dang coons are outsmarting me. 

So last night we tried a partially open can of smelly cat food.  That worked!  We found a small female raccoon this morning in one of the traps.  Raccoon # 2, she too was moved under the Vinyeard Witness Relocation program and she was  released in the same place as the first one.  They’re probably buddies, so maybe they can hang out again and talk about the beautiful vineyard they once knew. 

Meanwhile, we’ll be trying to trap the other 2 raccooons that we spotted and any others who move into the area.  We’re trying to save enough grapes to make it to harvest in August.  Hopefully we’ll round up all those devilish racccoons soon.