Spring 2007 planting nearly complete

We planted the Prairie Star, LaCrescent and Frontenac vines Saturday. About a half an acre total. Weather was nearly perfect! ... We finished just before the rain moved in.
I still have 25 more frontenac vines to plant (They were accidentally not shipped.)

With the completion of planting this year I now have 663 vines planted. Assuming 10-15 lbs per vine on average ... this would mean a good harvest would be about 3-5 tons each year.

Light Frost Saturday Night, May 12.

We had a light frost in the vineyard Saturday night. (31 F on the min max thermometer) Took out the primaries on much of the 4th year foch which are in the lower South East corner. Random nipped buds elsewhere. The older foch were relatively unscathed.

Summary of primary bud damage.
2nd year Lacrescent: 40%
4th year Lacrosse: 5%
5th Lacrosse: 1%
4th year Saint Pepin 5-10%
4th year landot Noir: (has not broken bud yet)
4th year foch: 95%
5th year foch: 5-10%

Bud Status

Foch

Foch ... (4th &5th year) Bud burst happened in the last few days ... some small shoots, several small shoots at the bases. Excellent bud survival... no sign of grape flea beetle.

Landot Noir

Landot Noir(4th year) .... Not seeing any bud swell, except for a few .... not sure if they are late to bud, or dead?

Saint PepinSaint Pepin

Saint Pepin (4th year) ... Not as far along as foch just begining bud burst, many very swollen buds complete burst expected in the next few days. Excellent bud survival ... should have a decent first crop this year (~200 lbs+).

LaCrosse

LaCrosse (4th and 5th year) .... About the same as foch as far as bud burst. Also had excellent winter survival. Looks like I'm finally recovering from the 2,4 D damage in 2004. I should also have a decent crop .. ~200 lbs plus.

LaCrescent

LaCrescent (2nd year) ... Good first year survival. Looks like I may have only lost one vine (maybe not) All were pruned back to a couple of buds, and bud burst happend over a week ago (but they are all near the ground) Put orange snap together grow tubes on them last week, and buried the tube bases this weekend.

Seedless Concord

Seedless Concord (3rd year) Bud swell ... about the same as Saint Pepin. Put old blue tubes on most of those this weekend... and trimmed most back to a couple of buds. Blue tubes are so I can use herbicide, since weed competition was an issue last year.

Other Notes ...
-Getting very dry, could use a good rain shower. Some rain predicted for the upcoming week.
-Warm temperatures are predicted this week.
-No sign of frost for the next couple of weeks ...