The 2020-2021 winter wasn’t particularly harsh (-27F/-33C) and the snow held off until mid-spring for the most part. Going into the spring thaw, there was about 43 inches (109 cm) of snow on the ground. We melted enough snow to create 2000 gallons (7500 l) of water for crops. Summer was dry right up until the second week in August, when we received 7 inches (178 mm) of rain over a two-week period. Fall was pretty routine, with the first hard freeze coming on September 20. That yielded a frost-free season of 115 days, but a grape-growing season of 143 days (bracketed by 28F/-2C on either end). The farm accumulated 1139 GDD 50F (633 GDD 10C), with a maximum temperature of 88F (31C) on August 3rd.
2021 marked our 13th annual spring plant sale. We saw a lot of interest in gardening as a primary source of vegetables for families. It is good to see people returning to home gardening.
We went a little deeper into flower production this past summer. We delivered bouquets to a local BnB during the summer. That encouraged us to expand our flower production and to plan for offering a bouquet subscription to local residents in 2022. We plan to offer a 10-week subscription and the option to break that 10 weeks into two 5-week subscription options.
Unfortunately, our blackberry patch was afflicted by disease following a very wet August and September 2020. None of the canes (even on Stenulson) survived the winter. It was odd not to see an abundance of blackberry flowers on Stenulson. We continue to work with Stenulson to see if we can get it to set fruit. We believe that the original plants we received were not self-fruitful. Thus, the flowers appear and bees visit them, but they have never produced actual berries. As Stenulson is a selection from the wild, it is likely dioecious and our plants need a pollinator. It continues to spread (slowly) from its original planting and seems to tolerate temperatures down to -35F (-37C), so we continue to work with it in hopes of developing a reliable source of blackberries.
We continue to study the needs of our grapevines. After digging the majority of vines in the vineyard up and checking on them two years ago, we realized that something was seriously wrong. There was little, if any, new root growth on most of the vines. Our soil temperature profile records indicate that while the ground does not get particularly cold over the winter (staying mostly above 20F/-7C), it does not get very warm in the summer (peaking around 50F-55F/10C-12C). Studies with V. vinifera suggest that grapevines prefer soil temperatures of 60F and above (15C+). We examined the soil around Arthur (Pinchbeck) to see why it is able to grow with much more vigor than the other vines. We realized that several years before planting Arthur, a couple of buckets of small rocks were dumped in a pile about a foot (25cm) away from where Arthur was planted. We added soil thermometers under the pile of rocks and found that the soil was 10F (6C) warmer under the pile of rocks. A quick watering experiment this past summer showed us that Arthur’s roots were confined mainly to the area under the rock pile. We began piling rocks around a few other vines, but saw little difference before the growing season came to an end. With any luck they were putting down new roots in the warmer soil. This whole discovery (spurred on by a discussion with an international group of grape breeders) encouraged us to look around the farm for other areas where the soil was warmer. Hauling around buckets of rocks is rather difficult and time consuming, after all. We ended up digging a hole in one of our terraces (which we’d all but abandoned, since they tend to erode and slump). Eureka! We found it! Soil temperatures in the center of a terrace ranged from 60F (15C) to 75F (24C) in the top 16 inches (40 cm). Needless to say, we will be moving all 135 vines currently in the field/vineyard to our new terraced vineyard next summer.
We have identified another grape variety that has potential in Interior Alaska – Skujins 675. It is one of only a couple of vines that begins maturing its wood by early August and hardens off a few nodes (even with the cold ground in the field) before the first freeze. More to come on that variety. In addition, we acquired several wild selections of V. riparia from far eastern Montana and southern Manitoba this past year. One of those (SD 62-8-160 or “160” for short) defoiiated entirely on its own and seemed to harden off much of its growth before our first freeze on September 20. This is the only vine we have that does not require leaf removal to encourage wood formation in the fall. What a discovery! We have more wild selections from Montana and North Dakota sitting in our fridge and are anxious to see how they compare to 160.
This past year was also a victory in terms of rooting grape cuttings. In the past, we have followed the more conventional practice of using a combination of heat and moisture to trigger callus and root formation on cuttings. Our success rate has been fairly low and quite inconsistent. The method we “perfected” in 2021 relies on a mix of water and hydrogen peroxide to trigger root formation. It does not require any additional heat, but does require a sunny window. We had a 95% success rate at rooting dormant cuttings and found that the method also works on green cuttings, as well as on cuttings taken of a section of woody cane that contains a green shoot. Placing the woody end in the water/peroxide mix causes the woody portion to root quickly. There are a few caveats, but overall the process seems to be highly reliable. It has been tested by others on Chambourcin, a French hybrid, with great success. Others are testing the method on hard-to-root species, as well.
