update from Glen Ellyn, IL Monday Feb 21 2011

Took a photo of the vines in Glen Ellyn this morning (Feb 21 2011).  I will be pruning them on Sunday morning, unless there is a tornado that picks me up and sends me off to Oregon or the Russian River Valley for work at a vineyard.  Today the area has received freezing rain.   The temperatures are definitely getting increasingly warmer.  The low tonight is supposed to be 19 degrees Fahrenheit.  That is pretty low, but it is not single digits or temperatures in the negatives.  Little victories.  I am cold as I write this in my apartment, have been all day, actually.  But I know that March is only next week.  Myself and many others are looking forward to the advent of a new month ushering us into the growing season.  How about a picture of the Frontenac and La Crescent vines as they are today?  Here you have it!  Enjoy.

The photo doesn't look like much, other than the product of an amateur doing his best with the smallest budget in the world and less knowledge than now about how to design a setting for a few vines. Anyway, I am excited for the next 12 weeks. Oh what a change we are in for.

From -12 degrees Fahrenheit to 43 degrees Fahrenheit in 78 Hours!!!!

This is the story of the Glen Ellyn vines and their current existence underneath the blanket of probably 12 inches of snow, even still, nearly 10 days after the Chicago Blizzard of 2011 (which took place on Feb 1st and 2nd, 2011).

As I registered the real temp of -8 degrees Fahrenheit on late Wednesday night of this past week (Feb 9, 2011), I learned when I had awoken that at 8AM Glen Ellyn, Illinois was expecting the mercury to drop to -12 degrees before reversing such a trend. So far, to my knowledge, that is the coldest temperature that Glen Ellyn has been able to reach so far this winter.

The current temperature is 43 degrees Fahrenheit. That registers a 55 degree difference and temperature range. The winds are blowing today, quite vigorously. But we are not out of winter's clutch just yet. Things are changing, though, ever so slightly. Actually, a family friend tells that the oil rig workers in the North Sea have to deal with the March gales at this time, indicating changes in the seasons and the dawn of spring. Follow the link for a cool website:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/marine/shipping_forecast.html#All~All


More to come.


Thank you!

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).

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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.

Naming of the Vines

I made a decision yesterday regarding the silly little vines I have growing.  I think some refer to classification as Taxonomy.   Either way, this is what I came up with (I'll do my best to refer to all vines as such from here on out):

Cabernet Sauvignon vines

Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2008 (St. Louis, Missouri vine)
Cabernet Sauvignon 01-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - planted as a cutting in a pot this late winter/early spring 2010.
Cabernet Sauvignon 02-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - same
Cabernet Sauvignon 03-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - same
Cabernet Sauvignon 04-2010 (Chicago, IL vine) - same

Syrah vines

Syrah 01-2009 (Chicago, IL vine) - planted in September 2009
Syrah 02-2009 (Chicago, IL vine) - planted in September 2009
Syrah 03-2009 (St. Louis, MO vine) - located at family home in St. Louis, Missouri

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I hope to be able to do the same for the Cabernet Franc, La Crescent, and Frontenac vines, but time will tell if I have success in getting them to grow.  Also, I have been quite remiss by misspelling the La Crescent grape vines (been wrongly spelling it as 'Le Crescent').  I am embarrassed I didn't catch that earlier, I need a Copy Editor, I guess.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to report the following:

Cabernet Franc 01-2010 (Chicago, IL vine)
Cabernet Franc 02-2010
Cabernet Franc 03-2010
Cabernet Franc 04-2010

Frontenac 01-2010 (Glen Ellyn, IL vine)
Frontenac 02-2010

La Crescent 01-2010 (Glen Ellyn, IL vine)
La Crescent 02-2010
La Crescent 03-2010 (Grayslake, IL vine)

Last night I had occasion to look at Syrah 01-2009 and it came up with another 3 leaves or so.  I meant to take a yardstick out to measure how tall it is at the current.  Best guess would put the young vine at nearly 14 inches tall already.  As I walked away and went back into the apartment I couldn't help but be grateful that I have been documenting this with the lens because I immediately go back to that photo nearly 2 months ago in early April 2010 when I noticed bud break.  

And, on another incredible update, a friend offered to play host to the final La Crescent grape vine that was purchased from Double A Vineyards in Fredonia, NY.  This last La Crescent is already in the soil and resides in Grayslake, Illinois (Lake County Illinois).  It will receive plenty of southern facing sunlight and I hear the drainage will be exceptional.  It might turn out to be the best grower of the batch.  I am thrilled, this will be La Crescent 03-2010, if it gets established.



60 degrees this morning.  Yesterday, actually, nearing 7:15PM, it was just like a typical autumn day in the Midwest.   The sunlight was pristine, as were the skies.  Shame I wasn't out enough.  Bloody current job!!!!

Since we are doing maps, here is one of Glen Ellyn, IL, as well.



That's all for now!  Have a grand weekend.

May 27 2010 update - Thursday

Southeast Logan Square has seen a series of 80-degree days this week. The lows did not even get into the 50's. The urban/residential garden is progressing very well and impressively. I don't have any photo updates because my camera battery charger is at a friend's house, actually in Glen Ellyn, IL.

Listening to the Dwight Yoakam channel on www.Pandora.com right now.

Rudy McClain created the documentary 'Merlove' and he recently sat down with Gary Vaynerchuk from WineLibrary TV last autumn 2009 to talk about his film, which was a response to the movie 'Sideways' featuring Paul Giamatti. Here is a link to the conversation with Gary V:

http://tv.winelibrary.com/2009/11/25/merlove-episode-775/


Here's a link to one of the more popular scenes from the movie 'Sideways', the one referred to above:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiOuroHPxRQ

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Rudy McClain also sat down with a fella from the website, www.winecast.net.   A link to that podcast is here:

http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/7374386

The author of www.winecast.net is Tim Elliott, a bit of information about him can be found at:

http://winecast.net/about/


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Side Note:  I determined a few days back that Louie, the black dog in St. Louis isn't capable of eating the grapes.  I have zero acquaintance with Louie's personality, but I thought I would mention another great vineyard dog, from Canada - Mr. Bones (Newmicon's dog):

http://www.youtube.com/user/Newmicon#p/u/23/m9IYMTRnlY4

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The impulse to mention the doc 'Merlove' was realizing that there are a good many wonderful podcasts available for FREE on iTunes, and I don't even own an iPod.  It is great.  Check the iTunes download location the next time you think of wine podcasts.  That is where I originally came upon the interview between Tim Elliot and Rudy McClain from WineCast.

Also, in re-listening to the podcasts from www.winemakingradio.com, I listened more closely to one rascal from North Dakota, named Gary Cook, he runs The Valley Vine - an online newsletter featuring updates from the Red River Valley in northwestern Minnesota/eastern North Dakota.  I enjoyed his insight into many matters involving wine making and wine tasting.  A link to that conversation, again, is:

http://www.winemakingradio.com/wmr/Episode22.asx


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As far as growth goes, it appears that new leaves are arriving at a rate of two new leaves every four days, from what can be observed thus far.  Perhaps there will be an increase for the next 40 days and then a plateau.  Great progress moving forward despite the worst of locations for plantings.

One final mention is that I now have a fourth Cabernet Sauvignon cutting that has experienced bud break in the past 56 hours or so, this is the batch cut from my parents' vine in St. Louis MO.  This one will be called Cabernet #4.  It was great news to hear from my roommate as she informed me the old way - by us having a conversation through the window as I was in the garden.

Happy growing!

LeCrescent and Frontenac vines were planted this morning! - Saturday May 22 2010

Short on time. These are photo updates from planting 4 of the 5 vines this morning. I still have 1 LeCrescent vine to plant. The roots were brilliant as they came out of the packaging.