We have plenty of wild concord grapes on our property.
However, the insurance company doesn't approve of our harvesting methods so it's probably
best to plant some cultivated grapes.
When I cleared the land for the greenhouse, it left plenty of area to plant various fruit
producing plants which don't need the greenhouse to thrive.
Plus why waste the space just growing grass?
Taking a look at my 3rd grade drawing skills, I'm going to set three 4x4x10' treated posts
3-4 feet into the ground and space them 24' apart.
This will allow for 8 plants in the space.
Then I'll string 12 gauge galvanized wire starting with the first wire 42-46" from the
ground, then space the other two 12" apart.
The plants can be spaced 6' apart and over time the vines can be trained along the 3
wires.
I had planned to set the posts first in the event that I hit any large rocks while digging,
however I blew a seal on the backhoe and had to find some parts for it.
So I took my chances and put the plants in first.
The row should go in a straight line and a 100' tape measure works well for marking out
the locations of each post and plant.
Jamming a piece of survey's tape at each mark does the trick.
We're going old-school and using a pick-axe and shovel and digging a hole about 1 foot
deep.
Luckily there weren't any large rocks in the way -- just a few roots and small stones that
the pick-axe was able to pluck out.
Later, looking at the post holes, you'll see why I didn't dig them by hand.
Planting the vines is fairly easy.
I got these seedless concord grapes from Gurney's for half price.
I just remove the fiber that's used for keeping the roots damp, spread out the roots a bit,
and set it in the hole so that all the roots that emerge from the vine will be just below
the finished level of the soil.
All the dirt that came out of the hole was hardpan so I filled it with nice organic soil,
then compacted it down, and gave it a really good watering.
It also important to cover the area with mulch to help maintain the moisture in the soil
until the roots can get established.
These will get watered every day for a couple of weeks.
The actual work of planting the vines is quick.
It's the preparation of digging out the rocks that takes all the time.
A 30 cent O-ring and a day to dismantle and reassemble the valve assembly and the backhoe
is running again.
I can now install the posts for the wire arbor.
It may not be the fastest backhoe, but it beats digging through the rock with a pick
and shovel.
The holes are dug to about 4 feet which will provide a deep enough anchor to prevent the
posts from leaning from the future weight of the vines.
Some of the rocks that I pulled out where bigger than the hole.
If I had to dig these by hand, I probably would have only dug down a couple of feet,
and then would have to anchor the posts with concrete and guy-wires.
It seems like a really big hole for a post, but without an auger with rock drilling bit,
it's probably the easiest way to set a post.
A little cleanup at the bottom of the hole and it's ready.
I'm using 4x4 treated lumber rated for direct burial.
I'm not a fan of using treated lumber, but in order for it to last a long time, it's
a necessary evil.
I like to add two temporary cleats to the post to help support it while I'm set it plumb
and backfill the hole.
I also like to drop a few rocks around the base to hold it in place when I start to fill
it in.
I'll fill the hole several inches at a time and compact it between each layer, then clean
up the area with some more woodchip mulch.
The first wire starts roughly 42-46 inches from the ground and the second and 3 wires
are spaced 12 inches apart.
It will be the perfect snacking height for the deer.
At each marking I'll drill a 3/8" hole through the post and then put in a 5/16" eye-bolt.
The back side has a large fender washer and nut.
Having a large washer will help to keep the nut from pulling into the post under the weight
of the vines.
It's fairly important to make sure the eye bolt is an inch or more too long so you can
tighten the nut if there's a little slack in the wire.
I'm using 12 gauge galvanized wire and I like to roll it out first and cut it to its rough
length.
Then I insert it through the bolt and bend it back on to itself, anchoring it with a
wire clamp.
The wire is stiff enough where you probably could just twist it over itself, but I just
prefer the wire clamp.
I drilled holes through the center post, but most people usually just staple the wire to
the side of the post.
I'm a bit obsessive compulsive and can't handle having a bunch of rusty staples in the posts.
On the far end, I feed the remaining wire through the eye bolt pulling the wire as tight
as I can, then anchor it with another wire clamp.
The nut on the eye bolts can be tightened if there is any extra slack in the wire, but
if there's too much, it can be brought tight by pulling the wire tight through the eye
bolt and resetting the cable clamp.
A couple of the posts didn't get buried quite deep enough so I trimmed off the tops just
to make everything look proper.
Lastly, I like to tie ribbon on the wire to help prevent people from walking into them.
So, that's about it.
It's going to take a couple of years for these grapes to mature and get up to the wires so
a little patience is in order.
You can see here, a few weeks ago I planted these are few weeks ago and they are now starting
to bud, so they look really great and healthy.
Thanks for watching and we'll see you soon!