Photos-A-Plenty

Been a big bounce in my steps for the past 38 hours or so, let me tell ya'all. I really have to get some sleep, tomorrow is ramping up to being a very busy day on many fronts, personally and professionally. But, if I don't get these photos up, they just get backlogged. And that gets all too gnarley to deal with. So, let's roll.

Photo Set from Southeast Logan Square Grapevine Nursery

(The ever-popular Senor Rhubarbsky.)

(Photo indicating tremendous growth of the Willamette Beer Hops.)

(Second photo of Willamette Beer Hops.)

(The original Mars Seedless grape vine planted in September of 2009. The buds are ready to burst, they look so pregnant. Just had to snap a photo. This is also my first year pruning this particular vine. I will be very enthused if this one pulls through the winter with green leaves and shoots. After a summer of Rat poison, if this one reports a healthy condition and indicates vigor, a bottle of sparkling wine needs to be released.)

Photo Set #2 from Southeast Logan Square Grapevine Nursery

(One of the best pieces of evidence/news to come upon in the past 38 hours: developing roots.)

(Amazing roommate helping me with transplanting the Russian Mammoth Sunflower seedlings to larger containers. The Russian Mammoth Sunflowers have already outgrown their container that I planted the seeds in only 14-16 days ago. Had to be done. Whipped up a concoction of Barbeque pit ashes, Top Soil, Potting Soil, and Compost. Blended it all together in 5-Gallon buckets and troweled the product into new containers for the sunflowers and the developing grapevine cuttings.)

(Image of growth on cuttings.)

(And, another shot of the growth.)

(More evidence of growth on a few cuttings.)

Photo Set #3 from Southeast Logan Square Grapevine Nursery

(Developing roots on a grapevine cutting.)

(Another shot of developing roots from a grapevine cutting.)

(This little photo reveals how roots developed early on with this particular cutting. Indicates considerable vigor already.)

(Workstation photo #1)

(Workstation photo #2)

The temps reached 41 degrees as an average from many locations. There was also a significant wind to consider, so I decided to transplant on the landing inside the back porch of my apartment. It was warmer for me. I made the soil mixtures in the backyard. Myself and my roommate were pretty bundled up to thwart the cool air.

Photo Set from Grayslake Illinois Grapevine Nursery

(Photo from Grayslake, Illinois grapevine nursery on Monday A.M. April 18, 2011. Received 2 inches of snow overnight. Words taste chewy from previous blog posting. Chew, chew, chew.)

(A shot taken from car eastbound on Hwy 120/Belvidere Road indicating snow cover in Grayslake, Illinois/Wildwood, Illinois.)

I think the message is that April is not entirely safe in this region of the world for transplanting.

(Idea for a cheap planting container. Resourceful and re-useable product. Doesn't impinge on the 'Broke-Ass' wallet. Note the polka-dot material in the right-back of the photo. This is one of the markers being used to distinguish one varietal of grapevine from another. Picked up from the local feedstore in downtown Grayslake Illinois. Brilliant idea on part of partner-in-crime, Lisa.)

(Bottom end of cheap planting container coupled with reusing a salad or mushroom container. The mushroom container's bottom-half becomes the 'Catch Pan, or Saucer'. Nothing is left to waste.)

(Product of brainstorming for ways to come up with cheap planting containers. There are many possibilities in this world.)

(Again, another option for planting a cutting, or anything else. Plant can be easily extracted if the mouthpiece/spout is cut off initially before putting soil in device.)

More to tell from the Grayslake Grapevine Nursery, but I need more time and I need sleep.

What a difference 43 days can make............

Alright. Greetings.

So I keep late hours simply because I have a job that doesn't conclude until after 11pm each night I work from the employment schedule. Which leads me to report that i am still awake at 4:04AM Monday April 18, 2011. I 'just' got off of work. Right.

Crazy how I was just transplanting young grape vines today outside in the backyard of the Grayslake appellation and now 18-20 hours later, there is a layer of snow on the ground. Just remarkable. The words of a previous blog posting are pretty tasty, let me tell you.

Also, the Concords were planted around March 4, 2011. They were transplanted today and the roots were enormous, already. Huge bounce in my steps. Huge.

Gotta go sleep like normal people do. Out.

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:

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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.

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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