Week Three (June 17 - 21st)

The shoots are growing quickly! Really, some have grown almost a foot this week!

Lots of the trunks are curvy (since they were improperly staked up and bent under the weight of the fruit and shoots). Generally we either try to straighten them out by tying them better to bamboo, but at times we resort to growing a completely new vine from a sucker.

We have officially started the grape breeding process at the HRC. In order to ensure that the plant's offspring are genetically crossed correctly, we are spending hours emasculating tiny flowers daily. Some varieties bloom before others, so all of this work needs to be completed in a fairly narrow time-frame. To me this process is similar to performing hundreds of little surgeries since it takes a long time (~30 min/cluster) and is easy to screw up. These surgeries consist of us removing the flower cap before it springs off naturally (as well as removing the ones which have naturally popped) and then tweezing the male organs (anthers, which basically are packets of pollen) from every flower of the cluster. We are doing this to ensure that the flower does not self-pollinate, a process which would naturally happen as the cap springs off. This is hard to do since pollen is microscopic and pollination only requires two grains to come in contact with the sticky end (stigma) of the female portion of the flower (pistil). Once we have removed all of the pollen and caps, without accidentally brushing pollen from the tweezers or our fingers on the pistil, we then secure a waxpaper bag tightly around the emasculated cluster. This prevents pollen from landing on the stigmas while they mature for two days. At this point we remove the bags and and cross the plants with pollen from other varieties. To do this we would sterilize our hands and with our finger we dabbed pollen, which we took from a statically charged petri dishes, onto the end of each pistil. Over multiple generations of crossing European with native North American grapes, this program has yielded thousands of plants (~10,000 at the HRC) and multiple patented varieties (Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, Marquette, Eidelweiss, La Crescent) which successfully grow in MN soils and withstand its harsh climate.

The top flowers have been emasculated, but the bottom ones still retain their caps and anthers. It's tricky to pry the caps off without crushing/bruisng the ovary and/or breaking the pistils off.

Once pollinated, the bag will remain on the cluster for the rest of the growing season in order to ensure the protection of the hybridzed seeds.

We also spent a good amount of time removing leaves and lateral shoots from the fruiting zone of the vine. This allows adequate airflow around the clusters, which will hopefully prevent moisture from accumulating on the fruit and canopy. If it remains wet for too long, various kinds of fungi will take advantage of the opportunity and decompose the plant. This could destroy research results at the HRC and whole yields in commercial vineyards.

Now all the flower clusters are airy and hopefully fungi free!

Fun fact: The first five nodes of a shoot were preformed in a bud during the previous growing season. The first node always will have a leaf coming out of it (which acts as a shield to the clusters and will be sacrificed if there happens to be an early frost). The second and third nodes have grape clusters. The fourth has leaves and the fifth has a third cluster. The sixth node onward are all new growth from this growing season. They alternate between leaves and tendrils, which appear as needed. Since this pattern exists for all grape vines shoots, it is necessary for a manager to properly expose/harden the wood/buds during this season in order to ensure next year's grapes.

These are parent plants in the greenhouse. Pollen is collected from these vines and saved in a freezer for future crosses. Most of these plants are Vitis Vinifera (true EU grapes), but they have come from vineyards scattered around the world. 

We transplanted almost 300 seedlings and cuttings from a greenhouse to the nursery on Wednesday. In order to carry out this process we first made a trench and then dug holes every foot. To plant them we freed the roots, splayed them in the bottom of a hole, filled the holes in with fine dirt and gave them a little water. The plants will remain here for this season in order to bulk up their root systems. After this happens they will be brought back indoors for the winter. They are stored in peat in a cellar and then planted in the vineyards the following year. Since they need ~3 years before they produce fruit, they in actuality are already five years old at this time.
  

Planting the nursery! It flooded the next day. Yay rain and global climate change!

Week Two (June 10 - 14th)

We spent quite a few hours positioning new shoots into the catch wires of a VSP (vertical shoot positioning) trellising system. This system is one of the most productive and user friendly systems, and therefore is used in many vineyards. The marquette shoots (below) are a deep red and growing fast. We also thinned out shoots along the cordons so that they roughly were spaced a fist's lengths apart. We reduced the number of shoots per spur (retained last year's growth) down to three (and even two if it was a smaller/less healthy vine). We also cut shoots off if they were facing the wrong direction or downwards. We did this because these would either compete for sunlight with the shoots that are easier to deal with or break in the wind. When shoots do break off the trunk risks being infected by various pathogens. While walking through the vineyards you can tell which vines are healthy (haven't been damaged) based on shoot vigor and whether or not the cordon has initiated the production of areal roots.

The immaculate Marquette on VSP. 

For the Frontenac yearlings we further thinned shoots and even fruit clusters. We retained two clusters on vigorous shoots and one on stunted shoots. By thinning  clusters we are allowing more nutrients to go towards the development of vegetative and cork cambium growth. This "bulking up" of the vine will increase its winter hardiness, which is necessary in MN due to our cold winters and fluctuating extremes. Many vineyards around MN experienced damage from last years winter since there was so little snow cover. That allowed the frost to permeate 4 or 5 feet deep, damaging less hardy roots. John said that these problemsa are mostly due to novice growers trying to maximize their fruit yields/revenue instead of paying attention to the needs of the plant. As John always reminds us, "See the vine, be the vine." This is a must in order to make quick, correct pruining decisions.

Black rot is an inconvenient problem for grape growers. If not prevented with an increase in canopy airflow, or treated with fungicides, the fungus will consume both the leaves and the fruit. This can be devastating, but here at the HRC we are need to determine the plants susceptibility/resistance to invading pathogens.  

We have had to repair a few trellis wires that have broken from routine tightening and from the vines swaying in the wind. This happens fairly regularly, and lucky for me Matt is now a wire repair expert. John said that if a person were to do build a trellis system right, they would have all metal posts instead of 8" treated timber. Metal posts are superior than wood since will last forever and they keep the wires taught much better than wooden posts. Posts slacken the wires due to seasonal changes.

We apply a weed killer named Surflan to the soil around all of our vines. This needs to be sprayed right before a rain so that the chemicals can soak and stay in the ground. Generally one would want a light quarter of an inch rainfall, but we were lucky to get 8x that.

One Wednesday Patrick from Four Daughters Winery and Vineyard near Rochester ventured up to the HRC and helped us. Before we had spent an hour tying vines a storm rolled through, forcing us to retreat to the break room. (Apparently its dangerous to be around a grid of wires in an electrical storm. John and Patrick had heard of trellis systems being stuck and all of the vines on them dying). Waiting in the break room for the storm cell to pass quickly turned into us drinking in the winery. We had the opportunity to sample Four Daughters' Edelweiss and Marquette, as well as four wines from research vines that were grown in the vineyard (like the wine in the carboys below). Lucky for us the Arboretum had a potluck for Lauren's going-away party, so we were all able to get our fill. After the potlucki everyone else besides the grape crew went home, but we continued and finished all but one acre. We finished this last acre on Thursday, and are now done with tying for the time being.

John, Patrick and Nick (the wine man at the HRC) sampling wine in the winery.

I was traded to the apple crew on Friday. I was a little bummed at first since I was just suckering around saplings, but I guess that's all Raina and Matt were doing with the grape crew as well. I learned how to prune apple saplings and spent the afternoon cleaning up the bottom foot, saving the secondary buds. All the apple trees stem from tissue slicings that are inserted into a cut in a bud. They do this with two buds in case one does take.

Guus (from Holland) and I had the lovely opportunity to crawl on our hands and knees for 5 hrs. We were pulling out  "sucker" shoots that emerge from the root system under the apple trees. Notice what crosses we're working with!

Week One (June 3rd - 7th)

I have officially been accepted into the "Grape Crew" at the University of MN's Horticulture Research Center. This means that I, along with three other laborers and a manager, am now responsible to care for roughly 10 acres of new research grapes. Since most "cold-hardy" grape varieties which are currently grown the Midwest have originated from this research center, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to join. Though this is only a temporary position, lasting only 67 days since I am not a U of M student, hopefully it will open new doors for me. The drive between Northfield and Chaska may be lengthy, but I am confident that the effort will pay off.

During my first week at the HRC our crew has been securing newly budded vines their trellis systems. Doing this allows the plants to grow uniformily, in an appropriate position that will make the rest of the season's tasks easier. Tying vines in is also important because once the shoots get larger and the fruit sets thrashing wind can lead to whole sections breaking off, which would be devastating.

Spending 35 hours tying this week has allowed me to get to know my crew a little better. Being led by a German-taught expert and a world-renown grape researcher over these few days has allowed me to learn many new things about grapes. In order to record the wealth of this wisdom, I have decided to create this blog. It is going to mostly be a record of my personal new-found knowledge, but feel free to read along and learn with and from me. Here we go!

"Cash" joined the crew (Lauren, Matt, Rayna) in the vineyard on Thursday. He was a good distraction from the rain.

Grape vines can be either male, female or hermaphroditic. Male vines are sought after as ornamental plants as they will not produce juicy grapes which can stain your home and attract insects. Female vines naturally produce grapes, but need to be in the presence of a male plant in order to pollinate the flowers. Domesticated grapes contain both male and female parts which allow them to self-fertilize without the need of insect help. This is done when the cap (calyptra) which fuses the male and female parts together is blown off in the the wind.

Pruning is done so that there are 4-6 shoots/trellis foot. More than this will yield a cordon (the arm the runs along the wire) that is too crowded. A crowded cordon will increase the likelihood of rot as it will trap moisture within the canopy. It will also shield the grape clusters from the sun, which will delay ripening and decrease fruit quality.

Canes (last year's growth of the cordon) do not necessarily need to be tied to the trellis. Allowing these to hang at a downward angle is actually beneficial for the grape grower, as it will decrease the vigor of the last shoot. If canes are tied parallel to the trellis system the flow of vascular fluids (sugars, nutrients, and hormones) will be too great and the last shoot will explode in vegetative growth, while the other shoots will be stunted. As long as the cane isn't whipping in the wind, there's no need to tie it to the trellis.

Cracking in the vine while tying it to the trellis system is a good thing. This creates dams in the vascular tissues which slows down the flow of fluids. This allows for a more uniform distribution of nutrients, while also consequently strengthening the vine. Apparently Germans use a system called "pendelbogen" which utilizes this (as well as my fun fact from the paragraph above). John, the vineyard manager, said that no one in MN has tried this yet, but they definitely should if they want to increase the quality of the grapes.

Beneficial bacterial colonies will sometimes grow on the ends of cut vines. Though these are ultimately feeding on the phloem sap, they also cap the cut so that disease cannot enter the vulnerable site. Yay symbiosis!

High Cordon (HC) trellis systems should always be established with re-bar. This will allow the vine trunks to be grow straight, which will allow the vineyard manager to easily prune, harvest, and maneuver his equipment through the rows in the future. It is apparently worth every penny of the extra cost. 

Some vines are over 30 yrs old!

Mother ducks cover their nest of eggs with their down feathers when they leave to forage for themselves. Also, if they are spooked by a predator they will act wounded and slowly slide sideways away from their nest. This, they hope, will distract the predator from finding their babes. Additionally, the mother will leave unhatched eggs in the nest once the majority of them have hatched. Oh yeah, we have a mother duck on a nest of eggs the vineyard. 

When planting new vines, spacing them two feet apart, cut off all but three or so inches of the roots and all but four or five inches of the shoot. Mound a hump of soil with in the bottom of your hole and splay the roots in all directions around it. Apparently the roots will remain clumped if you never unclump them. Burry the vine so that the pressed down soil is an inch or two above the roots, leaving the top couple of buds exposed above the soil. Create a saucer with the soil around the plant so that water will erode towards it. 

Peter, Lauren, Raina, and Matt planting 450 new vines from last year's crosses.