Pruning Time!

Over the past 10 days, we having been pruning our 6804 vines. We have had one of the coldest winters that we can remember and we are not sure how our young vines have fared. As recently as April 16th, we were pelted with freezing rain. Our buds are still in their very closed dormant stage, but we do see some hopeful signs.

Recently, I went to help an acquaintance look at some grapevines that they had inherited when they moved into their home. Her husband had been pruning the vines but year after year, they have had very little fruit. So, armed with a few books and my Felco number 8 trimming shears, I went to their home. They are not sure what kind of grapevine they have but it is most likely Concord. He had it nicely trained in the Kniffen system.¹ For Concord grapes, this is a good system because the fruiting zone will be as exposed to as much sunlight as possible. I will be returning to their home periodically to see if we can discern what kind of grapevine they have, using Lucie Morton's book A Practical Ameplography.
References:
1. Juanita Popenoe, Tara A. Baugher, Richard K. Zimmerman and Arthur Selders, Growing Grapes in West Virginia, West Virginia University Extension Service, 1990.