grape vines

[redcountry]

A couple of years ago I planted a couple of grape vines in the back yard,last year there was a half dozen bunches of grapes .

This year there is close to a hundred bunches .everyone is telling me I should pull off half of these bunches or the vine will die.

Has anyone had experince with grapes ,these are a blue called Concord?
Any suggestions?

thanks Art

________
Chrysler 300M

 

[Mrs.Greg]

I know NOTHING about growing grapes but I do know Concord grapes are deep purple,and make great wine,I don't "think" they're ready to be harvested yet :???: I would pick them when ready,our apple trees always do better the next year if ALL the fruit is picked off them JMHO

 

[sw]

redcountry, we planted some grapes three years ago, am by no means an expert so I looked in Hanta's gardening books, all of them say to thin the bunches, even removing entire bunches if the vine is really producing. Nothing is said about killing the vine, only that you will have bigger and better grapes if the vine is not trying to produce a huge amount of clusters. It says to thin them when they are still small and hard. I probably need to thin ours too, I know the one vine needs to be pruned, it is going wild with growth

 

[Martin Jr.]

I have some grapes growing north of my house on a 6ft. fence. They were old grapevines when I moved in there in the early 70's. They are a blue grape, but according to some who know grapes better than I, they are not Concord.
I have just let them grow without pruning, and have grown 15 to 20 feet in each direction from the roots. I have usually picked most of the grapes, but it don't seem to hurt the vine when not picked.
These have grown a lot in the years since I have lived here as I have watered them better.

 

[passin thru]

Wine

 

[the_jersey_lilly_2000]

Round here if ya don't take care of pickin the grapes yourself the birds will do it for you.

 

[EastTexasGal]

What I was taught on grapes, its same as Peaches. If you thin them you get a better fruit on whats left. They are bigger and less seed in them, juicier. Now that is just what I learned....and I have a grape vines that just go to the birds..lol yep Lilly, they enjoy them more than I do.

Easty

 

[nr]

We toured a vinyard in Florida last winter. You've probably seen pictures of pruned vinyards. They keep them small, trained to wires for bigger grapes and better exposure to sunlight and air which helps also to prevent fungal diseases.

We've let our Concord grapes grow over a trellis for shade. As the trees have grown up around us and partially shade the grapes (which they don't like) I'd have to spray them frequently to prevent fungus on the grapes and have opted not to do that. We just enjoy the shade now and are thinking if we lose a big tree we might enlarge the trellis, give it a roof line like our house, and make it big enough for shading a picnic table.
At least that is my plan but don't have Mr. nr on board yet :wink:

You might call your ag extension service for some real answers!

 

[Martin Jr.]

Last year I heard several people say the birds got their grapes. I don't have that problem with 12 cats patrolling the area. Some of the cats learned to go out in the rain at night and climb the vines where the birds are hiding out of the rain.

 

[nr]

STUFFED GRAPE LEAVES
Printed from COOKS.COM

1 lg. onion, chopped
1 3/4 c. chicken broth
1/4 lb. lean ground beef/lamb
1/4 c. currants
2 tsp. minced fresh mint
3 lemons
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1/4 c. pine nuts
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
2 c. water
1 c. raw brown rice
1 tbsp. lemon juice
45+ grape leaves
2 tbsp. minced fresh dill
1/4 tsp. allspice
Pinch of cloves

Cook onions in oil over medium heat until translucent. Add the rice and when it has absorbed the oil, add the stock, soy sauce and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, stir, then lower heat and simmer covered for 40 minutes. Remove from heat and keep covered. Brown the meat and drain the fat.

Combine rice, meat, spices, pine nuts, currants and herbs. If using homegrown grape leaves, put a few at a time in boiling water for about 3 minutes. Rinse each batch under cold running water. Remove stems with sharp knife.

To stuff, place whole leaves on cutting board - put about 1 tablespoon filling at the stem end of each leaf. Roll up enough to enclose the filling then fold in the sides of the leaf. Finish rolling to make a neat package.

Cover bottom of large oven casserole with torn leaves, add first layer of stuffed leaves. Cut a lemon in thin slices and place 3-4 slices on top of first layer. Continue layers of leaves and lemon slices; when finished cover with torn or small leaves and pour the water over all. (May need to weigh leaves down with ovenproof plate.) Bake at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/4 hours, until tender. Serve warm or chilled. Garnish with yogurt/cucumber or egg/lemon sauce and mint sprigs.

do the leaves have to be young Spring leaves or can you use end of season old ones like now? My Hungarian sister in law used to make this- a huge kettle of them.

 

[OldDog/NewTricks]

Link:
http://cahe.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H-311.pdf

Link says In Part:

Cluster Thinning
Seedless varieties, such as 'Thompson Seedless'
and 'Black Monukka', often produce more clusters
than the vine can properly mature. Simply remove
some of them. This allows the foodstuff produced by
the leaves to better nourish the remaining clusters.
This practice will also benefit seeded varieties. Vigor
of the vine and previous experience would determine
number of clusters left per vine. After the berries have
set (the shatter stage, when flower parts are falling),
remove clusters that are undersized, oversized, or mis-
shapen. This is probably the most important step in
improving quality.

"New Trick" - Grapes :cboy:

 

[OldDog/NewTricks]

On the Ranch I had Sheep for the working dogs.
Selling Lambs:
I built up a Lebanese, Arab trade because I would let them Kill the Year Old Ram Lambs on the Ranch if they did the clean-up. I would raise Yearling Ram Lambs just for them.

Kill the Lamb is/was a Whole Religions Thing with them. They would always bring us back plates of Grape Leaves, Baklava (sp) and other GOOD FOOD in a week or so.

The people were always very kind and respectful IF ONE KNEW HOW TO HANDLE THEM!

A College friend was considered a Holly Man under the Shaw of Iran. He told me to ALWAYS REMEMBER:
My people can always "Sheet and Lie To You!" "In Their Eyes You ARE The Devil!"

These people and I love to "Horse Trade" there came a time when I felt one family had tried to Cheat Me.

I STOPPED our deal on the spot and told them
"I Do Not Do Business With The DEVIL!"

This was like a knife to their heart – other Lebanese, Arab Families started to shun them - - Their Holly Men drove down to Talk to me on their behalf. I thought I had there respect before – Now the families I did business with showed me the Greatest Respect.

But the Food stayed the same :evil: :roll: