Happy New Year!
So far it's been one of the mildest winters I can remember. Very rarely has the temperature failed to be above freezing during the day and even the nights have been relatively warm. There's been no snow to speak of since the freak storm at the end of October. The warm weather is actually a concern for farmers in the area. The trees and vines aren't staying in a full hibernation state and some are even threatening to push buds. This is very dangerous as any sudden dip in temperature could have devastating consequences. Ideally, the temperatures would hover in the twenties during the day and the teens at night and stay relatively consistent until mid-spring.
Everything else is going fairly smoothly. I'm still waiting on any word about my licenses since I fixed a problem with the application in November. As soon as that comes through I'll be pushing to get a product made and packaged.
Hopefully this spring I'll be putting in a few more rows of cider trees and another small block of grapes, but we'll see how that pans out.
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Giagantic Catchup Post
Again I've been called out for not posting at all. In my defense I've started a hand-written journal to keep track of things which is much more convenient, but in the interest of having a public account of all the things, here's what's been up since March.
March, 2011
Pruning went along fairly normally. One of my college buddies who has some interest in the process (and had quite a bit of free time) stayed at my place for most of the month and helped prune. Late-march snows slowed the process a little, but early-April sun helped us catch back up. There is a low-lying area in the middle of the vinifera rows that took a much heavier hit from the winter cold. If this trend continues I'll have to replant that area with hybrids that can survive better.
Glynwood, an educational farm in Cold Springs, is putting together a "cultural exchange" between Hudson Valley hard cider producers and producers from Perche, France. The exchange would include a visit from the French producers as they tour the Hudson Valley, then an all-expense paid trip to Perche to visit their operations. After a visit from the Glynwood organizer, Sara Grady, I was asked to participate to which I graciously accepted.
April, 2011
Pruning continued and I finally got most of my paperwork in for my farm winery license application. The biggest hang-up (which would become a huge headache for more than 2 months) was my wine bond from Farm Family Insurance. After much hassle (not entirely their fault), I finally received the correct bond a few months later.
I was given another acre of land to plant grapes in a completely separate location from my other vines. It's a much warmer location (possibly the warmest on the farm), so I decided to plant my favorite grape (Riesling). Double-A was out of riesling vines because of my lateness in ordering, so I found the 400 vines I needed from Herman J Wiemer Vineyards on Senaca Lake. They produce one of my favorite Finger Lakes Rieslings, so I considered it a great purchase and even elected to buy their own clone.
I got the readings back from the Cornell temperature button in my vineyard that said the coldest the winter got was -10.3 degrees F which happened at 7:30am on January 24th. Sounds about right.
Lots of rain all month (which would become a trend all year). Ended the month with my herbicide spray.
May, 2011
Planted the new riesling block at a 6' x 12' spacing with 4 x 480' rows and 2 x 240' rows. I had originally planned it for 425 vines but knocked my order back to 400 after remeasuring. Turned out in the end the 425 would have been perfect as I came up 1/3 of a row short on vines.
Also planted 75 new cider apple trees- 3 varieties, 25 trees of each. Varieties: Esopus Spitzenberg, Smokehouse and Golden Russet. Planted them down near my other cider trees and left room for more next year.
June, 2011
Put Blue-X shelters on the riesling block with bamboo shoots. No trellising yet.
Started shoot-thinning the established vineyard to try to get ahead of the growth. All the rain has already made a huge mildew threat.
Visited Glynwood for a pre-exchange meeting and dinner to meet the other Hudson Valley participants and learn more about Glynwood and the program. The visit bumped my enthusiasm from "excited" to "very excited" about the trip. I don't know what I did in a previous life to have this kind of opportunity fall in my lap at such a perfect time, but I'll take the karma payoff!
More rain has really started to effect the whole farm. Fungicides are going to be vital for any sort of crop (and it was only JUNE!)
July, 2011
Already noticing some cluster rot- mostly on the Reliance seedless. Very few Japanese Beetles compared to the last few years.
The older cider trees are producing more this year, but in an attempt to encourage vegetative growth and prevent limb breaking I was forced to hand-thin some of the apples. The smaller varieties seem to have more fruit and tighter clusters of apples. Overall, the surviving trees have really sprung back to life this year, which is very encouraging considering I was doubtful any would survive 2 years ago. They are, however, in desperate need of trellising.
Grape variety round-up (7/27):
Cayuga White: At verasion, very heavy crop. Very pleased.
Noiret: Not at verasion with a fairly poor fruit-set. Disappointed.
Interlaken (seedless): Past verasion, spotty fruit-set, some botrytis with lots of morning glory and thistle weeds
Himrod (seedless): Past verasion, also spotty set, relatively non-vigorous vine growth
Reliance (seedless): Past verasion, large crop, very heavy vines, some botrytis
Cab Franc: At verasion, much better sized crop, small tight clusters, need to pull leaves
Chard: Lots of fruit, some rot, significantly less fruit in low-lying area
August, 2011
Business as usual until Hurricane Irene on 8/28. The storm dropped about 8-10" of rain in 12 hours! While all of our orchards and vineyards are well out of reach of flooding, the amount of rain is hell on disease management. Downy mildew was RAMPANT this year. The cider trees are in a very wet spot and the combination of lack of roots, wet soil and heavy wind actually tipped about 1/2 of the trees over. I went down after the storm and propped them back up with wooden boards, which worked fine.
September, 2011
Days after Irene, another storm pushed through and dumped four more days of heavy rain which returned the flood water right back up to where it was after Irene.
Picked Cayuga White early for use in a sparkling wine at only 16 brix. We left quite a bit of unripened fruit on the vines in hopes of returning in October for a 2nd picking. Final yield was 3175 lbs which was a 1300 lb increase from last year. Awesome.
We also picked Chardonnay early for champagne, also around 16 brix. Yields on that were still to be desired due to the winter injury, but we still got ~1350 lbs out of them- up from just 250 lbs last year. Cluster rot was a big issue and there has been some shoot damage and even death from powdery mildew. A lot of canopy has been lost.
I still haven't managed to get my trellising up in the riesling block because we've been so busy with other things. All the vines are laying on the ground, but hopefully will be ok until I can stand them up. Although, with all the rain, I'm very worried I might have screwed myself. It'll have to wait until after apple harvest when I can get some workers to help me.
October, 2011
Still more rain. Picked the Noiret on 10/18. Final yield was around 1800 lbs, up from 1/3 of a ton last year, however the 2009 planting was responsible for 1/2 of this year's crop. The newer vines has more clusters and less rot than the '08 planting. I attribute this to a sunnier spot and a thinner canopy. Also, about 1/4 - 1/3 of the clusters picked has to be left on the ground due to wide-spread botrytis and sour rot damage. It's been a miserable growing year and it'll be a relief to get the last of the fruit off the vines so I can reset, pummel the vines with fungicide to prevent the over-wintering spores and try again next year. If it's not one thing (cold), it's another (frost), or another (torrential rain).
On the 15th, the French group from Glynwood visited. I showed them around the farm, harping on our fresh produce business and our cider mill. They seemed less than impressed with everything but came alive when I took them to the cider apple block. They took great pleasure in tasting all the varieties and comparing them to their own trees back in France. They had questions as well as some great advice for me which was a very encouraging event. Overall the tour went well and I can't wait to visit their farms in France in November.
So anyway, that's the update for now. I had hoped to get my hard cider license in before September to capitalize on the large Pick-Your-Own crowds, but the lengthy application process had too many set-backs and it didn't happen in time. The application is currently pending, though, and I should have it within the next few weeks so I can begin production and have stuff to sell next year.
I encourage you to comment with thoughts or questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks for reading!
March, 2011
Pruning went along fairly normally. One of my college buddies who has some interest in the process (and had quite a bit of free time) stayed at my place for most of the month and helped prune. Late-march snows slowed the process a little, but early-April sun helped us catch back up. There is a low-lying area in the middle of the vinifera rows that took a much heavier hit from the winter cold. If this trend continues I'll have to replant that area with hybrids that can survive better.
Glynwood, an educational farm in Cold Springs, is putting together a "cultural exchange" between Hudson Valley hard cider producers and producers from Perche, France. The exchange would include a visit from the French producers as they tour the Hudson Valley, then an all-expense paid trip to Perche to visit their operations. After a visit from the Glynwood organizer, Sara Grady, I was asked to participate to which I graciously accepted.
April, 2011
Pruning continued and I finally got most of my paperwork in for my farm winery license application. The biggest hang-up (which would become a huge headache for more than 2 months) was my wine bond from Farm Family Insurance. After much hassle (not entirely their fault), I finally received the correct bond a few months later.
I was given another acre of land to plant grapes in a completely separate location from my other vines. It's a much warmer location (possibly the warmest on the farm), so I decided to plant my favorite grape (Riesling). Double-A was out of riesling vines because of my lateness in ordering, so I found the 400 vines I needed from Herman J Wiemer Vineyards on Senaca Lake. They produce one of my favorite Finger Lakes Rieslings, so I considered it a great purchase and even elected to buy their own clone.
I got the readings back from the Cornell temperature button in my vineyard that said the coldest the winter got was -10.3 degrees F which happened at 7:30am on January 24th. Sounds about right.
Lots of rain all month (which would become a trend all year). Ended the month with my herbicide spray.
May, 2011
Planted the new riesling block at a 6' x 12' spacing with 4 x 480' rows and 2 x 240' rows. I had originally planned it for 425 vines but knocked my order back to 400 after remeasuring. Turned out in the end the 425 would have been perfect as I came up 1/3 of a row short on vines.
Also planted 75 new cider apple trees- 3 varieties, 25 trees of each. Varieties: Esopus Spitzenberg, Smokehouse and Golden Russet. Planted them down near my other cider trees and left room for more next year.
June, 2011
Put Blue-X shelters on the riesling block with bamboo shoots. No trellising yet.
Started shoot-thinning the established vineyard to try to get ahead of the growth. All the rain has already made a huge mildew threat.
Visited Glynwood for a pre-exchange meeting and dinner to meet the other Hudson Valley participants and learn more about Glynwood and the program. The visit bumped my enthusiasm from "excited" to "very excited" about the trip. I don't know what I did in a previous life to have this kind of opportunity fall in my lap at such a perfect time, but I'll take the karma payoff!
More rain has really started to effect the whole farm. Fungicides are going to be vital for any sort of crop (and it was only JUNE!)
July, 2011
Already noticing some cluster rot- mostly on the Reliance seedless. Very few Japanese Beetles compared to the last few years.
The older cider trees are producing more this year, but in an attempt to encourage vegetative growth and prevent limb breaking I was forced to hand-thin some of the apples. The smaller varieties seem to have more fruit and tighter clusters of apples. Overall, the surviving trees have really sprung back to life this year, which is very encouraging considering I was doubtful any would survive 2 years ago. They are, however, in desperate need of trellising.
Grape variety round-up (7/27):
Cayuga White: At verasion, very heavy crop. Very pleased.
Noiret: Not at verasion with a fairly poor fruit-set. Disappointed.
Interlaken (seedless): Past verasion, spotty fruit-set, some botrytis with lots of morning glory and thistle weeds
Himrod (seedless): Past verasion, also spotty set, relatively non-vigorous vine growth
Reliance (seedless): Past verasion, large crop, very heavy vines, some botrytis
Cab Franc: At verasion, much better sized crop, small tight clusters, need to pull leaves
Chard: Lots of fruit, some rot, significantly less fruit in low-lying area
August, 2011
Business as usual until Hurricane Irene on 8/28. The storm dropped about 8-10" of rain in 12 hours! While all of our orchards and vineyards are well out of reach of flooding, the amount of rain is hell on disease management. Downy mildew was RAMPANT this year. The cider trees are in a very wet spot and the combination of lack of roots, wet soil and heavy wind actually tipped about 1/2 of the trees over. I went down after the storm and propped them back up with wooden boards, which worked fine.
September, 2011
Days after Irene, another storm pushed through and dumped four more days of heavy rain which returned the flood water right back up to where it was after Irene.
Picked Cayuga White early for use in a sparkling wine at only 16 brix. We left quite a bit of unripened fruit on the vines in hopes of returning in October for a 2nd picking. Final yield was 3175 lbs which was a 1300 lb increase from last year. Awesome.
We also picked Chardonnay early for champagne, also around 16 brix. Yields on that were still to be desired due to the winter injury, but we still got ~1350 lbs out of them- up from just 250 lbs last year. Cluster rot was a big issue and there has been some shoot damage and even death from powdery mildew. A lot of canopy has been lost.
I still haven't managed to get my trellising up in the riesling block because we've been so busy with other things. All the vines are laying on the ground, but hopefully will be ok until I can stand them up. Although, with all the rain, I'm very worried I might have screwed myself. It'll have to wait until after apple harvest when I can get some workers to help me.
October, 2011
Still more rain. Picked the Noiret on 10/18. Final yield was around 1800 lbs, up from 1/3 of a ton last year, however the 2009 planting was responsible for 1/2 of this year's crop. The newer vines has more clusters and less rot than the '08 planting. I attribute this to a sunnier spot and a thinner canopy. Also, about 1/4 - 1/3 of the clusters picked has to be left on the ground due to wide-spread botrytis and sour rot damage. It's been a miserable growing year and it'll be a relief to get the last of the fruit off the vines so I can reset, pummel the vines with fungicide to prevent the over-wintering spores and try again next year. If it's not one thing (cold), it's another (frost), or another (torrential rain).
On the 15th, the French group from Glynwood visited. I showed them around the farm, harping on our fresh produce business and our cider mill. They seemed less than impressed with everything but came alive when I took them to the cider apple block. They took great pleasure in tasting all the varieties and comparing them to their own trees back in France. They had questions as well as some great advice for me which was a very encouraging event. Overall the tour went well and I can't wait to visit their farms in France in November.
So anyway, that's the update for now. I had hoped to get my hard cider license in before September to capitalize on the large Pick-Your-Own crowds, but the lengthy application process had too many set-backs and it didn't happen in time. The application is currently pending, though, and I should have it within the next few weeks so I can begin production and have stuff to sell next year.
I encourage you to comment with thoughts or questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks for reading!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Pleasantly Surprised
I finally did some bud cutting today to gauge winter damage. I mentally prepared myself for the worst after those few really cold nights (-15 at one point) and was just hoping to get less than 50% mortality.
I didn't take as many cuttings as I should have and I can hear my statistics teachers screaming at me for my pitiful sample size, but the results I got were fairly consistent so I'm going to accept them and move on.
The pleasant surprise was that no variety had more than 30% bud mortality. Both hybrids were between 15 and 20% death, Cab Franc was about 30% death and Charddonay was the big surprise with only 17% death! These all fall within the 15-35% mortality range meaning I can figure on leaving 1/3 more buds than normal to compensate for loss throughout the vineyard.
I plan on starting dormant pruning early next week. Most, if not all of the snow should be gone by then and hopefully the ground will dry out a little too. It'll be nice to work outside again without 5 layers of clothing on to keep from freezing. I love spring.
I didn't take as many cuttings as I should have and I can hear my statistics teachers screaming at me for my pitiful sample size, but the results I got were fairly consistent so I'm going to accept them and move on.
The pleasant surprise was that no variety had more than 30% bud mortality. Both hybrids were between 15 and 20% death, Cab Franc was about 30% death and Charddonay was the big surprise with only 17% death! These all fall within the 15-35% mortality range meaning I can figure on leaving 1/3 more buds than normal to compensate for loss throughout the vineyard.
I plan on starting dormant pruning early next week. Most, if not all of the snow should be gone by then and hopefully the ground will dry out a little too. It'll be nice to work outside again without 5 layers of clothing on to keep from freezing. I love spring.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
More Vines
My grandfather offered up another acre of land and despite it not being attached to my current planting, I jumped at the chance and took it. It's on a great spot- probably the warmest place on the farm. Great drainage, long rows and a great view.
I ordered 400 Riesling vines from Hermann J Weimer Vineyard on Seneca lake- their own HJW clone, even. They're a little bit pricier than Double A (understandably), but by the time I was ordering Double A was out of the clone and rootstocks I wanted.
We've had some pretty cold temperatures in the past few weeks, so I've been kind of worried about the vines and buds surviving. The snow cover should be protecting the graft unions well enough, but if all the buds are dead it won't be a fun spring.
There was a great piece included in the most recent CALS newsletter on grape vine cold hardiness. It gives a great, easy-to-understand explanation of how grape vines naturally adjust to survive through the coldest parts of winter. If you have a minute it's definitely worth the read:
http://author.cals.cornell.edu/cals/grapesandwine/appellation-cornell/issue-5/grapes-101.cfm
I ordered 400 Riesling vines from Hermann J Weimer Vineyard on Seneca lake- their own HJW clone, even. They're a little bit pricier than Double A (understandably), but by the time I was ordering Double A was out of the clone and rootstocks I wanted.
We've had some pretty cold temperatures in the past few weeks, so I've been kind of worried about the vines and buds surviving. The snow cover should be protecting the graft unions well enough, but if all the buds are dead it won't be a fun spring.
There was a great piece included in the most recent CALS newsletter on grape vine cold hardiness. It gives a great, easy-to-understand explanation of how grape vines naturally adjust to survive through the coldest parts of winter. If you have a minute it's definitely worth the read:
http://author.cals.cornell.edu/cals/grapesandwine/appellation-cornell/issue-5/grapes-101.cfm
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