We've stopped watering the grapevines, but they keep growing. Now that the bulk of the summer heat has passed, growth will slow considerably. But, we have the rainy season ahead (and lots of browsing pressure from snowshoe hares!) and will be experimenting with ways to keep the vine roots a bit drier than in years past. Grapevines want water at the beginning of the season - lots of water. Way more than we typically receive from rainfall, it appears. However, as they go into fall, they want drier conditions, but that is when we receive the majority of our "summer" rain.
In today's video, we look at each of the varieties we have planted out on our terraces and a few that are still in pots (but sunk into the dirt on the terraces). We ponder the once unlikely scenario that we would actually have to string wire on the trellis posts we installed. And, we fantasize about growing Vitis vinifera (specifically Gewürztraminer and Müller-Thurgau), at least for pollen to be used in grape breeding. Speaking of breeding, we crossed Rondo and our RA-66-5 (a wild Vitis riparia from eastern Montana) about a week ago and are watching to see if any berries set. The goal is to add a bit of hardiness and perhaps a bit earlier ripening time to Rondo.
Enjoy the video. We'll be back with another video update sometime in August.
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