Cabernet Sauvignon - Chicago

A few updates from the patch of garden/flower beds in southeast Logan Square. The Cabernet Sauvignon vines that were transplanted from pots to soil earlier in the summer went through a period of shock, in other words they simply just held. Such behaviour didn't surprise me as the plants were moved into a new living environment. At times more than a few leaves seemed to reveal plants that were struggling. These pieces of evidence began to worry as this year I have not had the best track record with bringing cuttings through the critical first 10-12 weeks after Bud Break.   The following photographs of the vines were taken on Friday July 9 2010

As a comparison, I took a few photographs (featured below) of the vines this morning Wednesday August 25, 2010. I am pleased to see the results of 7 weeks of heat, water, and sun affecting, for the better, these young Cabernet Sauvignon cuttings that were lopped off of my parents' Cabernet Sauvignon vine in St. Louis, Missouri late one Friday Feb 26 2010 during late-winter pruning.

The final vine that I photographed is one that I simply wanted to get in the ground before Sept 1, 2010. I must've planted it on Wednesday Aug 18, 2010. It is another cutting from my parents' vine in St. Louis, MO. I just wanted to experiment by getting it in the ground earlier than I put the Syrah vines in the ground last year, which I am almost certain I did after Sept 1, 2009 (and by that measure I mean it may well have been Sept 10th or 15th, I wasn't as good about documenting back then). What I hope to discover next spring is that this 3rd cutting will grow and have vigor. When such activity occurs I will then have a better sense of what the parameters are for planting late in the summer in Chicago, IL. It is entirely possible that last year's Syrah cuttings just didn't have adequate time to get situated before the cool air came around. Even this morning at 6AM the air was quite cool in Chicago when I was outside. All of these details are important to consider.

Harvest photos - Sleepy Creek Vineyards, part deux

Have a few more great photos from my time of harvesting Frontenac grapes at Sleepy Creek Vineyards two weekends ago. More to come, actually, I just need to make the time to get the photos up.

the near-bungee cord used to fasten the vine to the aluminum wire was new to me.

the grapes were really shining in that morning Sunday light.

Dude watching over the harvesters amongst the Frontenac grave vines.

Dude

a wider scope of a Frontenac grape vine

Enjoy!

Harvesting Frontenac Grapes in Central Illinois

The following photographs depict what I was involved in yesterday Sunday August 15, 2010. I had a wonderful time harvesting grapes (Frontenac grapes, no less) and observing the so-called 'Crush' and 'Pressing' steps in the whole process toward creating wine. The wines that were pressed yesterday probably won't be bottled until January 2011 the owner informed.

updates from the Glen Ellyn, IL vines

The following photographs were taken 7 days ago (Sunday Aug 8, 2010). Very good news. It appears that the vines will be ready for the winters of DuPage County. Looking forward to more growth in the coming weeks and to seeing the current vines turn to wood from the harsh winter coming up.

Frontenac grape vine located front-left in the yard. (1 of 2 photos same vine).  Glen Ellyn, IL.

Frontenac grape vine located front-left in the yard.  Glen Ellyn, IL (2 of 2 photos, same vine)

Frontenac grape vine. (2 of 2 photos) Located back-left in the yard.  Glen Ellyn, IL.

Frontenac grape vine Glen Ellyn, Illinois.  Situated back-left in the yard (1 of 2)

La Crescent grape vine (1 of 2 photos same vine - front-right in the yard)

La Crescent grape vine in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.  This vine apparently has taken the longest to respond to the soils and get situated for growth and development.

La Crescent grape vine.  Location back-right in the yard (1 of 2 shots for same vine).

La Crescent vine, located back-right in the yard.

View of the four vines all together as planted on location in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.  Planted back in May 2010.  They seem to be doing very well.  The immediate neighbor to the north is quite intrigued and always asks after them.

Dachshund dog with the grape vines.  Frontenac on the left, La Crescent on the right.  Dog in the middle (name for canine:  'AC'.  Sweet dog with an overbite that makes it appear to be smiling all the day long).

 .

I am supposed to be sleeping at this precise moment, but instead I am finishing a blog posting because I can't sleep. I will be assisting with a grape harvest in the morning, in a few hours, at a vineyard in central Illinois. I'll keep you all posted on how things unfold. I was supposed to help out on Saturday morning, but I couldn't wake up. I worked 16 hours and 45 minutes on Friday and needed some sleep. Foolish of me to think I could drive 3 hours and 20 minutes after such a work shift. Can't win 'em all. Gettin' back on the horse soon, though.

Wednesday to Wednesday growth measurments with photography - Syrah vines

A beautiful Syrah grape vine leaf.  Chicago Illinois Wed Aug 4 2010. That's a vine growing in Southeast Logan Square, my readers!!!!  Dig it!

Note the green string on the left of the horizontal fence post.   It was placed on the fence July 28, 2010 Wed to begin measurements.   Measurements on Wed Aug 4 2010 (date of photo) conveyed growth of 8 inches, perhaps 9 in one week's time since the 28th of July.

Front porch Syrah grape vine. Wed Aug 4 2010

Front porch Syrah grape vine, picture # 2.  Wed Aug 4 2010.  This is the vine that is doing the best of the two being measured.  Very hardy and vigorous growth for an urban setting.  Curious where things will be come Sept 15, 2010 despite my estimation that the better part of the growing season concludes around Sept 1 for the Chicagoland area.

We'll be back with more updates. Just pulling it all together.


Happy growing!

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.

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