grapes and muscadines

[rockriver]

I had trouble getting grapes to live...
first planting - all but one died... there went a year of growth.
replanted..
grapes looked pitiful year one.
grew a little year two. I pruned them heavily. and added heavy wood chips as mulch to help hold water.
grew a bunch year year 3 and we got a few... the deer got a bunch. pruned heavily. more wood chips.

this year... big smile. huge clusters. deer have gotten some. if I or other worker(s) are any where near the vines, we "mark" the posts.
this application of "scent" seems to be working!!

detail of marking procedure reminds me of being a kid and seeing if I could write my name in the snow! hopefully, I've explained without being crude to the ladies in the room.

so.. let me encourage you to go plant some grape vines... we are eating last years jelly now!
wonderful treat just to grab a handful when you walk by!

and the good news is that the grapes come in much earlier than the muscadines!

[Lowdown3]

We waited a few years to prune, it seemed to help.

Now we let the goats prune one side of some of them that are planted on a fence in the garden areas. The other ones we just get with a hedge trimmer on the sides and top in late winter.

Muscadines with the big ole seed is all we've been able to get to produce here. Are you having any luck with seedless or other grapes?

[protus]

Mine did good last year. Think we waited to long to prune.
But got our first pineapple...yummy. Nd got few more to harvest soon.

[rockriver]

we went all out on the grapes.. lol.
--- bought them at Sams, on a whim!

a package contained several - maybe 3 or 4 plants?? we must have bought 2 packs

I just asked the bride... what the name of the grapes was..
she said concord... I thought they were thompsons...
we don't remember!
but the house sure does smell good... she has a huge pan on the stove. getting ready for jelly jars.
she thinks the bluish/purple ones are concord and the gold/tan are thompsons.
they both have seeds.
very dry in our part of the world this year...
we have put a lot of water on them this year, and we've had heavy wood chip mulch around them for about 2 years.
ours get a lot of sun. i'm not sure what sun preference is for grapes.

[1Admin]

Interesting. We have similar climates as you are aware. We couldn't get Thompsons to produce any. We switched to muscadines via an old local nurseryman's recommendation and have done well with them.

I would LOVE to have Thompson's or Concord.

Figs are about the only thing doing well in this drought here this year. Apples seemed to be about 1/3 of normal.

[rockriver]

figs



figs 1 is a picture of tree that has been producing for years. and it's about to run out of steam this year.
figs 2 is of a new tree that I planted... about 3 years ago... these figs have not come in yet... they look like they will be double the size of older tree!


i'm taking pix of grapes and figs and the clean up crew came around griping that they didn't get enough compensation... i'm going to send them back to Aflac!!


i'm taking pix of the grapes and decided to check on the muscadines... won't be long.
btw, what's the difference in a scuppernong and a muscadine!

oops..
very first picture is of grapes, and I don't know how it got first in line... I need a teenager to come by and download pix. I've already edited this post too many times! so not going to try to delete or move the grapes!

[rockriver]

we think these are thompsons. maybe a grape expert can give us the correct name?

we think these are concords? maybe a grape specialist can give us a correct name?

[rockriver]

we've been picking grapes but had to be away for a few days...
had big storm two days in a row.
I went to park to check on the fruit...
found grapes covering the ground. gallons of jelly won't be in the shed.
so, I picked...
I know most of you guys have big farms, little farms, homesteads, etc..
but for the few that don't... plant yourselves some fruit... grapes are very little maintenance.
can be done in small lot subdivisions!
not mannah from heaven, but pretty close!

[motesjm]

Great looking fruit RR. There is a naturally occurring bacteria in the soil in some areas of the southeast that is really tough on most grape cultivars. Check the UGA or Auburn extension service to make sure you aren't setting yourself up for failure.

[rockriver]

thanks motes, there has been a cumulative bunch of hours.