We left our post last July saying that we would post again in August. Well, there was a pretty good reason why that post never happened. Unfortunately, our cabin foundation decided to shift - and rather abruptly place our home on a 15 degree slope. Long story short, we had to leave and find another place to stay. Just "down the street," but a lot different from what we were used to. Suffice it to say, we were busy trying to move in, get power and internet set up, and then bring in 5 cords of wood - which cost us the same as heating our home for 4 winters, yes 4 winters! The silver lining to all of this has been that it removed distractions and allowed us to really consider what is important in life now. While we aren't that far away, with a road that is under about 4 ft (1.25 m) of snow, it has been a challenge to visit more than just occasionally this past winter. And a very long cold winter hasn't helped. The farm spent 149 consecutive days below freezing, with a winter minimum in the -27F to -29F (~-33C) range - we haven't been able to check the vineyard thermometer yet this spring. Most of that time, the farm was under enough snow to insulate some of the more tender plants, but we won't know how much damage was done until the snow melts away.
Speaking of plants - specifically the vineyard, we had some great results last year at the end of the season regarding vines hardening off and preparing for winter. Summer was pretty dry through early August (as usual), and so we were watering the vines every week. However, we decided to cut all water (to all but the most struggling vines) after July 4th. That gave the soil a month to dry out and start to cause some water stress (which is known to encourage early dormancy) in the vines. Then, the "monsoons" arrived and we received several inches in just a couple of weeks - all typical. This was likely the last straw for the cabin foundation, as well, as the soil here has little strength when it is wet and part of the foundation had failed earlier in the summer. We saw a number of grape varieties start to form periderm (the woody part that is needed to overwinter) by early August. One of the standouts last fall was ES 10-18-30 (pictured above), a vine bred by Elmer Swenson (hence the "ES") decades ago with Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay as grandparents. This vine is notoriously hardy (well below -40) and makes a decent wine. Chances of it ripening here are pretty slim, though. Yet, it was interesting to see that it hardened off 70% of its shoot last fall to a very nice brown color (granted, the shoot wasn't all that tall, but typically the percentage doesn't change as the canes grow longer). That is the highest percentage of any vine in the vineyard to date - even Arthur, which usually does pretty well. We also saw quite a show from Gewürztraminer in winter prep. While most say it is barely hardy to -10F (-23C) in the best years, it has adapted well to the farm, beginning dormancy prep earlier and earlier each year (out of 5 yrs total). It is truly (along with Müller Thurgau - and now - Pinot Meunier & Pinot Gris) one of our "kicks & giggles" vines - not one we expect any grapes from, but it is interesting to test if we can grow the hardier Vitis vinifera grapevines reliably in the most favorable microclimates here in Interior Alaska - everyone says you can't.
Unfortunately, last summer and fall weren't all rainbows and unicorns in the vineyard. Hares devastated the vines starting in mid-August. They came in (remember, we don't have Chica - a Rottweiler-lab mix - around anymore to chase them off) and chewed all the leaves off of as many vines as they could reach. We ended up putting wire mesh tubes around them, but the damage had already been done. Then in early September, Mr. Porcupine came around and decided that Skujins-675 should not be 6ft (2m) tall anymore. He bit it off about 18 inches (0.5 m) above the ground. Then the hares came in and ate all the leaves off below that. It was a pretty pathetic looking vine going into winter. Undeterred, Skujins-675 actually might have hardened off better last fall than it ever has. Only time (and melted snow) will tell.
Speaking of snow, right now we are in the middle of trying to melt enough to water the vineyard until the road is passable. With so much snow on the road now (we didn't remove it during the winter like we normally would have), it may take longer to dry out. And, with the cabin shifted downhill, our tank that usually captures 600 gallons of water from the roof during snow melt each spring will be bone dry. As we have realized in the last two years, grapevines want A LOT of water here - 6 gallons per vine per week (our limited rainfall doesn't even come close). And with the road becoming passable sometime around mid-June, that doesn't leave much time for us to get them the water they need.
We are also looking at having to prune live wood for pretty much the first time ever! (We usually end up cutting off dead wood and leaving just a stub behind.) That is truly exciting - eventually a lot of work (as more vines go in), but exciting none the less. When we are able to prune out live wood, that means there are buds left behind that potentially have flower clusters in them. Yes, we have seen flower clusters emerge before (on RA-66-5 the last three years - but it is male and so does not produce fruit), but not on vines that have the potential to produce fruit. We also have to assess the diameter of the wood we are cutting off. It needs to be a certain diameter or it won't flower - let's not even discuss that the soil has to reach a certain temperature, as well. We have two vines that are of the right diameter this spring - Arthur and Skujins-675. Both are self-pollinating, so we won't have to hand pollinate. ES 10-18-30 and Gewürztraminer are too small to have developed flower clusters, but maybe next summer.
And then there is trellising. This was something else we never thought we'd need in the vineyard. True, we sunk posts in the ground, along with anchors for the wires. But, from the previous 17 years of experience, they never got tall enough to require trellising. That changed last summer (now that the ground was warm enough and we watered them A LOT). Most will need to be trained near the ground (unfortunately where hares, porcupines, and voles have ready access to leaves, shoots, and berries), because we are so limited in the amount of heat we receive over the summer, but some will be trained up higher since they won't ripen fruit anyway - and that will test their true winter hardiness. We're looking at you Arthur!
So, pruning, fencing, and trellising...in that order...are the tasks that will be tackled first this summer. We also hope to clear two additional terraces and prep them for planting about 80 more vines.
We hope to record a short video while pruning that documents how well the most promising varieties survived the winter. Be sure to check back in a month or so for the update!
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