Saturday, July 31, 2010

A very brief study of the vines

As part of this current state of transition in my life, I resigned from one job (back in late June 2010) and replaced it with a job that takes me up north for 5 days straight every week.   When I say north, I don't mean that I work near the Hudson Bay in Canada, but I actually get away from my apartment for 5 days and then return to my apartment after my last shift (not returning every night to the apt makes sense as the gas costs get pricey).  Because of doing so, I have noticed alot of growth on my 2-year old Syrah grape vines every time I come back from working a 4 or 5-day stretch. 

This weekend, before I left for work on Thursday, I decided to set up a few markers so that I can measure how much growth has occurred this week on each vine - actually only in the past 4 days to be exact.  I have a few videos that I took to document before leaving on Wednesday that I'll share now in this post.  Enjoy!



The vine below gets mostly southern facing sun. My aunt commented about how this plant is so darned close to concrete. I know, this whole arrangement is beyond logic. It is all madness, we just have to be creative with the limit on space in the city of Chicago when it comes to gardening, or in attempting to establish and shape one. Enjoy the vine!



I'll be sure to grab a few videos of the same two vines when daylight arrives on Monday August 2, 2010. I'll blog then about the growth. I suspect growth must vary from week to week. It is all very funny because I have photos of the vines from June 2010 and in those photographs the vines look so tiny in comparison to how they are now. July has been very good to us at the vineyard.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Grapevines in the ICU

This is the rough crew that made their way up to Grayslake, IL for a layover prior to reaching their permanent nesting grounds in Southeastern Indiana
This photo taken to emphasize the growth (Bud Break) on the Cabernet Sauvignon in the middle.
This is Cabernet Franc 01-2010 Chicago, fresh out of ICU in Grayslake, IL.  This vine suffering from Powdery Mildew, but on the mend.
Earlier on Friday July 23 2010 I had dropped off a few grape vines to a friend that will be taking them down to southern Indiana in the coming days. I dropped off (4) plants all told: (2) already-growing Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings, and (2) Cabernet Franc cuttings [1 is already growing but was apparently over-watered by me- big "Oops!" by a fella that claims himself as an amateur gardener].

The longitude for this particular town in Indiana is 39.3 degrees North. These plants are going to be under the careful watch of science-minded individuals, I believe there are even a few Purdue University alum in the household.  Think: engineering and science, procedure, format, building, planning, blueprints, etc. Purdue University's Cooperative Extension Service has provided many wonderful resources on the World Wide Web for amateur gardeners to reference, of which I have partaken many a time already, there is a document to reference at the bottom of this posting.  You get the idea though.  These plants will be whipped into shape in no time. It has been told to me that there will be a plan of action and there will be a program for these vines. Already, the vines have undergone early treatment from their temporary home/staging area in Grayslake, Illinois.  That is correct, these vines will be friends with the La Crescent vine (03-2010 Grayslake). 

Above this writing one will note an early photograph of the 4 vines in their existing staging area in Grayslake, Illinois (longitude is 42.344 degrees N).  For those interested, there is a soil survey that I found of Franklin County, Indiana.  This will give an indication of what kind of soil these vines will be going into.  The link for such a PDF is:

http://soildatamart.nrcs.usda.gov/manuscripts/IN047/0/franklin.pdf

The surrogate and now permanent parent for these vines provided a detailed account of how they provided early treatment to the ragtag vines that were delivered in Grayslake, IL on early Friday July 23 2010.  Here are the notes that I received by way of e-mail:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Cabernet Franc vines were watered too much and didn't have enough drainage. The Cabernet Franc without any greenery was transplanted to a different compost soil, similar soil that the La Crescent grape vine is thriving in (La Crescent 03-2010 Grayslake, IL). Removed saucer on both Cab Francs to improve drainage. The Cab Franc vine that had sprouted a bud break eventually lost it, it was revealed upon further examination of the cutting on the surgery table.  The cause of the loss was pinned on Powdery Mildew a by-product of having such a wet foot. Spraying both Cab Francs with mild soap and water mix to combat the Mildew. For these two vines I also lightly scraped the bark with a small wire brush, especially the bud areas to encourage growth. Did not replant the barren Cab Franc vine just as yet, didn’t want to disturb what little root system it has going.

The Cabernet Sauvignon vine (the smaller of the two in the pictures) that had recently experienced bud break did so with a bud that was situated below the grade of the soil in the pot in which it sat, so I removed some soil to expose break point to air. The heartier of the two Cab Sauvignon vines looking good but both Cab Sauv vines had dead wood that needed to be pruned. Careful to clean pruners with rubbing alcohol between working on each plant so as not to transfer disease (i.e. Powdery Mildew & anything else) from plant to plant. Made clean cuts at an angle to encourage run off and treated each cut with a little Elmer’s Glue to seal it from exposure to disease and pests.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So there we go.  I am always learning a bundle from everyone and I definitely learned alot from this transaction and this description provided by the permanent owner of these lovely vines.  Signing off just a little embarrassed, but encouraged.

Here's a nice little document from Purdue University regarding growing grapes in Indiana:

  http://www.hort.purdue.edu/ext/ho-45.pdf

Thursday, July 22, 2010

The Willamette Hops Monster!!!!!!!!!!! RARRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!

I took these photos on Wednesday July 21 2010. I wanted to keep an update on how the hops are growing. It has been an out-of-control year for them. I might have to come up with a method and figure out how to send them up to one of the tree branches and do the hops things properly. Again, in planting the hops 3 years ago, I didn't have a clue how the farmers grow them out in Oregon. But with a little help from my friend Google I have seen great photographs of how one should properly grow them, which is nearly vertically. My design is taking cues from the Encroachment School of thought.


Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Syrah grape vine experiments

The videos I am going to provide in this posting will indicate that I have taken some direction from a relatively nearby vineyard (west of Bloomington, Illinois). The deal is that the vines are truly enjoying the July heat typical of the Upper Midwestern region of The United States of America. Therefore they are growing like mad, which I certainly encourage. However, my poor planning (part of jumping into something that I had no idea about) needed to be addressed. I had eventually run out of wooden stake as these lovely vines were outgrowing them. In the videos one can see what I have chosen to do.

Also, because of what I have read regarding the wonderful ability of Fava Beans, I have decided to plant a few of my remaining Fava Beans (from Territorial Seed Co. - a great company, by the by) near the base of both of the Syrah grape vines growing in my gardens. I have often read about Fava Beans being used as a cover crop during the winter seasons. My idea was that maybe I could borrow from that concept and apply it a little bit early here in the oh-so urban Southeast Logan Square neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. These flower beds have only been getting lovin' spoonful from myself and my neighbor in the past 2 to 3 years. I am uncertain how long it takes to get a soil back up to par after so many years of neglect and plastic covering (weed preventative methods for The Lazies out there). I'll be sure to blog about whether my vines thrive or dive as a result of this science experiment. I figure if graffiti, far-flung 40oz bottles of King Cobra malt liqour, or the Fourth of July celebrations from the locals do not harm the vines, then perhaps lowly and meek Fava Beans won't do much harm. (My Latin neighbors really know how to outdo the City of Chicago in the usage of fireworks with full f*#king report). Y'all come to the neighborhood one summer during this particular period of time and you'll get a better sense of things. Sit on the stoop, pour wine for you and your friends, have a radio playing your favorite tunes full of professionally studio-compressed mp3's and take in the fireworks. Why go downtown and fight the crowds? Just don't expect to get much sleep on the night of the 4th of July because these folks don't stop with the explosives until about 6AM.

Final Notes:
I must actually correct a misunderstanding: The Fourth of July celebration in my neighborhood actually begins around the 27th of June and extends well into the days after the 4th of July, certainly the peak is on the 4th of July. It is pretty rad, but man, I can't help but think of all of the money going up in smoke. For someone as broke-ass as I am, I weep internally when I see so many fireworks go up in smoke.

Syrah 01-2009 Chicago, Illinois (Conejo Loco Vineyards)




Syrah 02-2009 Chicago, Illinois (Conejo Loco Vineyards)

Sunday, July 18, 2010

A Blend from the Garden

Here are a few photos from the garden, apart from the vines. June 2010 was a beautiful month with the Lillies. Just gorgeous colours.




This very last photo is a shot of my most vigourous Fava Bean. Sure, it is excellent that the Fava Bean provided fruit: more beans. But what I am really after is what they do with the injection of nitrogen naturally into the soil. I don't know what this is going to mean for the soils once these run their course, the one bed is almost getting entirely dedicated to Willamette Hops, the suckers are just overwhelming everything. As my friend and I wondered, we hope it doesn't result in anything like what happened with the Kudzu Ivy. There are plenty of worms in the soil, and other insects with many legs to join them in company. The first photo in this batch is of my Tall Joe Pye Weed. According to my records, all of these photos were taken on June 24 2010. The Joe Pye is even taller now!!!! Either way, just putting more photos out there.

Right now the clouds in Waukegan are brilliant. Hopefully I can get out there and snap a few shots before the perfect light departs.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

I am stoked


I am taking a few pointers from Mackinaw Valley Winery in Mackinaw, IL with this next picture.  I returned back to the urbanstead where I lay my head in Chicago, IL.  In the few days I was gone away at the shrine of the original Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008 St. Louis vine AND my parents' home, the Syrah vine 01-2009 just took off, so did Syrah 02-2009.  I have been trying to figure out how to deal with the next challenge of determining where the vine goes once it outgrows my little low-budget wooden stake that is keeping it upright.  Well, I have a video to accompany this photo I am providing.  Check them both out.  I'll keep the updates coming with how this turns out, as it is all an experiment.  Also had a face-to-face with 2 rats last night as I was watering the vines.  Jealous, aren't you?  ...



Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Vineyard Pests!!!! - er,...this is where it gets good -

Doing alot of updating on the vines in St. Louis, Missouri. Things are great. Went for a journey into the city with a good buddy of mine, noted plenty of re-development all throughout south St. Louis (not by 'Peppers' south-side bar on Gravois). I only mean south of Olive Blvd and areas southwest of that region, east of the Missouri Botanical Garden.

Anyway, I tried to look again for the pesky Japanese Beetle. Instead I discovered an infestation by what appear to be a kind of Aphid. I have photos to accompany this posting.

The first photograph really sets the stage. I had seen this yesterday when I visited the vine for the first time since March 2010. The first photo displays the end result of what I think is the product of what the bugs in the following photos achieve after dining on a 7 course meal on the grape vine with their friends, families, and the one dude they drank beers with the night before, who also just happened to crash on the couch: he's the kind of person you can't shake with a clean conscience, once you learn more about how far he is gone.  And, as with most short-term acquaintances, there is a certain charm to any human that thinks and acts in a strange, unusual way.  He doesn't do too well at any of the eateries along Division Street just east of Damen Avenue and west of Damen Avenue where all of the copies congregate, talking shapes, sizes, measurements......that's a tangent entirely unrelated to grape vines.




These bugs resemble the size of Aphids. I didn't spy any ladybugs around to counter with an attack. Actually, I kind of expected to see this kind of situation on my Fava Beans in Chicago, IL, not on the grape vine in St. Louis. Either way, this is a good experience. The jury is still out for this household. Surely there is one option of spraying Sevin dust on the vine from Ortho. I just don't want to go there if I can avoid doing so. We took the steps of cutting out as much of the vine that had the infestation as possible (all of which was actually outside of the bird netting, strangely enough and/or convenient, too). By doing this, I actually expect the existing grape clusters to receive greater nutrition from what used to go to the vines that we trimmed. In trimming we were able to fill up a 5-gallon bucket of cuttings. I also lopped a nearly 28 inch long green cutting. Just amazing things have happened to this vine in the past four months. Remarkable.

Either way, Chicago has about 45 heat days left before September 1 2010. For St. Louis, I would wager that they have about 55-60 actual heat days left in their growing season. I might be way off the mark in my estimation here. No matter, when I consider my outdoor vines in Chicago, both of which are Syrah vines that were planted in the soil around Sept 1 2009, and in consideration of how much they have grown in the past 3 weeks, I think I will have a nice sampling as the autumn weather begins to encroach and visit itself upon the Upper Midwest around Chicagoland.

Part of my excitement is that the Syrah vines that are now green will begin to undergo the process of becoming wood-like (I would imagine I'll learn what this process will be called properly when school begins).  As I indicated in the previous two posts, the wood on the Cabernet Sauvignon vine in St. Louis is beautiful and reveals weathering and maturing.

Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2010 St. Louis???????

That headline tells the story.

Upon arrival at my parents' backyard, dare I say (vineyard?), my mom informed me of two success stories. Let's look at the photos.

This photo above is a snap of a very young vine from my parents' backyard. The story is that my mom dug out some Peonys from just north of the existing Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008 vine. There was nothing planted there in March 2008 during the planting of the original 2 vines, I planted the 2nd vine cutting just south of the site of the now live Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008 St. Louis. In going through the flower bed by the garage this past weekend, which is where my mom re-planted the Peonys that were originally under the shady grapevine, my mom came across something that seemed to resemble a vine with leaves that were very, very familiar to her. After pulling out weeds from the garage flower bed, it was determined by my mom and my brother that, indeed, it was a grape vine. I have no idea how this happened, they have no idea how this happened. Did my mom grab some grape vine roots in the process of pulling the Peonys out of their original bedding? I haven't the experience to suggest one way or the other as I have not propagated grape vines using such a method prior. Regardless, this is an unexpected birthing of a vine that did not exist when the Peonys were transferred. Here we have Cabernet Sauvignon 02-2010 St. Louis!!!!


This photo above reveals a vine cutting that I just took a chance with around the time of March 10 2010. I remember this because I came back to St. Louis for a funeral during that time. When I the original Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008 St. Louis vine was pruned on 02/26/10 we kept a few cuttings with the notion of possibly planting a few to see if they would take off (I took nearly 15 cuttings to Chicago, IL). The photo reveals what resulted from my just simply taking a gamble and putting two vine cuttings into the ground around March 10 2010 to see if they would take off on their own. I did this experiment because if cuttings can take off in flower pots inside my apartment in Chicago, IL during the month of March (still a pretty chilly month in that region - think air leaking through windows, sun still at a southern slant, etc.), then surely they can grow if actually put directly into soil (novel idea, eh?). And here is what we have, a real vine actually growing 4 months and 2 days later. Here I present Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2010 St. Louis.

It's all madness.

Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008 St. Louis Missouri

I am on-location at the site of the original Cabernet Sauvignon vine, at my folks' place in St. Louis, MO.  I have a few nice photos and more funny news about the vine(s).  Vines?  "I thought it was only 1 vine from what you shared in previous posts?", the reader might ask.  .......more to come. Pay attention.




























Everything featured above in a photographic medium is from the original vine planted in March 2008 (Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008). Of course it is not well-kempt. This is, after all, the story of a guy trying to figure out how to establish a vineyard from just one vine. Lessons, lessons, lessons. I can only hope that I'll learn as much as I can. Which, by the way, is a nice segue for another bit of news. I am enrolled in a Viticulture Certificate program in a local community college to get some lessons about growing the vines, caring after them, learning everything else I can't even pretend to predict, and to further go into debt. BUT!!!!!! It is all to seize better control of my life and to situate mineself in a setting where I can be fully engaged in job/work kinds of stuff (the material that eats up nearly 52 hours of our weeks, every week - the math is: 52 weeks times 52 hours produces a total of 2,704 hours a year that we spend consumed with work - I added 12 hours to figure in travel times 52-12=40 hrs a week, for citizens of cities as crowded as Chicago you might wish to add upwards of 15-18 hours for commuting if the train doesn't help you all too well).

Anyway, if I am going to work 2,704 hours a year at a place that pays me, I realized that I want to be engaged in activities that I believe in. Life is moving along unexpectedly swift in manner. It's all process, just like these vines.

There are a couple of photos of note. The one photo has the author of the blog standing against the vine, it clearly reveals how tall this vine has gotten. When this vine was pruned on Friday Feb 26, 2010 with my mom and my cousin Mike, the assumption was that the vine would be in better shape. It is better than last year and seems better managed but next Feb 2011 the vine is definitely going under the saw, as it were, to get it to be more cruciform-like.

Also, look at the beautiful wood of the vine, there are a few photos that reveal how mature the vine is getting. Remember, this vine is only 3 years-old. And another item to put in is that when I took the photos yesterday I was trying to spy a few Japanese Beetles, but to no avail. Where are those pesky varmints? Some other bug is clearly getting a meal or two on the leaves, and that can be seen quite clearly in the photography. The star of the show is really my family as they care after this lovely beast with the tending, the watering, the clipping, the bird-netting, etc. My little niece is consumed with quality control as I hear she sneaks a grape every time she stops by to visit grandma and grandpa: the grapes weren't too delectable this weekend, she reports.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

just have to begin, again, sometime

Hey Everyone.

I know LOADS  of faithful readers are enjoying this blogulation.  Anyway.  I have some experience to share.  If you find yourself in a situation where you are trying to grow grape vines from cuttings.  And if that situation involves a slow pain-staking process (Meaning:  the vines don't get enough of what is often called 'heat days').  And, if in that situation, one realizes that either the canine or the wind knocks off the top shoot of said vine(s)................Fear not!  However, expect that it will set the vine back in what would have been its potential growth by 4 to 5 weeks. 

The vines will grow, though.  Don't be disheartened. 

Also, another bud break today on a cutting from my parents' Cabernet Sauvignon vine that I pruned in late Feb 2010.  Also, lost a few starts from a Syrah and a Cabernet Sauv cutting.  No matter, these are all good lessons.

Transitioning here folks, in many ways.  Played my last show tonight with one of my bands.  That is out of the way.  Celebrated with a glass of 2-week old Merlot from that Wal-Mart brand bottle costing only $2.99.  I was outside with glass in hand as I mindlessly watered the flowers outside from about 2:05AM until after 3AM.  The first bird sound was at 2:58AM, just so you are aware.  I believe it was the sound of a Robin, across the street in one of the younger maples.  Not certain.  Just a best guess.

Out.   ..........I told you, I needed to start back sometime. 

See you soon with loads of photographs.

Reasons

A record of a young man starting a vineyard from scratch, hoping to change careers and wanting to go with the wine. The nexus of this whole endeavor was a conversation that took place during the winter holidays of 2007. As a result, the first vines were planted in March 2008. Herein lies the tale of experimentation, mistake-making, successes accumulated, the mundane in-between, and joy all throughout. I really just want to live a long, full, and robust life for having enjoyed wonderful wines, and enjoyed, engaged and fostered all of the rest of life's goodness. There will also be photos and reflections on many other items in the garden I keep with my roommate. It all applies. Thanks for reading this blogulation.

Needs

  • An Employment Opportunity as an understudy within the context of vineyard
  • Job at a Vineyard
  • Mentor in Winemaking
  • Internship at a vineyard willing to take me on as an apprentice
  • Did I mention I would love to work at a vineyard, yet?

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Contact the Blogulator!

Please send any comments, job/internship/volunteering offers, vineyard recruiting, or feedback to the following:

lifessecondact@gmail.com

We'd love to hear from you. All the best!

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