GROW YOUR OWN GRAPES

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GET OUT IN THE FIELD

That January (1974), we showed up at Walt's place. His 200 eight-year-old vines sent canes running in mass confusion, and we began to understand why Mr. Riggs had chuckled when he offered to teach us about pruning.

He pointed out the main trunk of a vine.

"Look for the four arms—two on each side—with the best one-year-old growth," he told us.

We saw that two of such "super shoots" were down at the three-foot-level supporting wire, and two more were up at the five-foot-level strand.

"Now count out 15 buds on each of the four strong canes," he instructed, "and cut off the rest of the arm."

With that part of the task done, we trimmed off all the other canes, sprouts, and suckers ... being sure to leave two renewal spurs—with two buds apiece—at each level, to insure the growth of new fruiting canes for the next year's grape production.

I have to admit that we were shocked at first—to be cutting away 80% or more of the plant's growth, but we soon learned that, if the trimming weren't done, all the grape's vitality would go to supporting the tremendous vine ... and little "energy" wouId be left to produce fruit.

When we'd finished pruning and had raked all the cutoff growth from between the rows, our teacher pointed out the pattern of his vineyard. Upright posts (Walt used old railroad ties) were placed every 20 feet, while each vine was five feet from the nearest post and 10 feet from its closest neighboring plant.

SELECT YOUR GRAPES

When our education in "grape basics was complete, Mr. Riggs helped us make cuttings for our own nursery bed at home. We looked over his offerings and gathered a number of one-year-old prunings. We chose three varieties.

Himrod: a white, seedless table grape ... not especially good for jelly or wine, but just wonderful for fresh-from-the-vine eating.

Landot 244: a French varietal grape, excellent for making a deep ruby wine... dry and very much like Beaujolais. (Walt said it should age well, if we could let it situnsampled long enough.)

Concord: the all-time favorite for jams, jellies, and old-fashioned Concord wine.

We made bundles of 20 to 30 cuttings all 10 to 12 inches long with four buds each. They were trimmed off square on the bottom and at an angle on the top so we'd know "which end was up" when planting time came around.

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