First Call Administrator Jacob Mullin Talks About Tending his Vineyard

When we bought a place in the country four years ago, I hadn’t planted much, not even a garden. Since we had over four acres, I thought it would be fun to plant some grapes. I believe the more you learn before you start, the more time and money you save, but I also believe it’s hard to learn things until you actually do them. For instance, studying a new situation before you act is very wise, but you cannot learn everything you need to know from a book. After reading up on a subject, I follow it with the trial and error process. My vineyard experiment seemed to have quite a bit of error at times, but the results are proving to be well worth it, with a lot of satisfaction in the process.

I purchased four varieties of grapes. I was disappointed to find that two of the varieties did not grow well in our area. Nurseries typically promote what sells best, not necessarily what grows best. I found that Niagara and Himrod grew well, but Catawba and Concord ripen later in the season. Because of our rainy climate they do not set well and are more susceptible to disease. The second year I connected with a local grower, Lon Ronbough.  Lon has a web site (www.bunchgrapes.com) with information on grapes and also sells grape cuttings that have grown well for him.  I visited his vineyard and purchased three new varieties suited for this climate, Jupitor, Swenson Red and Relience.  These varieties have grown very well for me and since that time I have purchased and planted 10 more varieties (Price, Valient, Muscat Hamburg, Dr Good, Stuben, Edwelwies, Neptune, Einst, Baco Noir and Vanessa).  The great thing about these varieties is that you will never find them in your local grocery store and they are excellent and unique tasting grapes. Our vineyard will be a U-pick vineyard. In addition to the grapes, we have 200 Marionberry plants, which we have already harvested for two seasons. In the photo below the plants are in bloom last spring.

Our grape vines and Marionberry plants cover 2 of our 4.5 acres. The reward of our labor is that we have over 100 quarts of grape juice and 100 quarts of Marionberries. We have canned the berries and made jelly and pie fillings of them. In the summer we do a lot of canning and juicing, then enjoy the fruits of our labor throughout the year. I am constantly thankful for our choice to plant our acreage in vines and berries. Join me in future months as I share more about life in the vineyard.