Its been awhile since my last post and things have been going well in the vineyard. It seems like its been forever since i took these pics back in June and so much has changed...
The first grape plants planted were the Frontenac plants (shown above on the right) 3 years ago. This is the year, if everything goes as planned, these plants will produce their first crop. Not a full crop but enough to get a few gallons out of at least.
The plants growth had sped up as the month of June went on and they started producing many tiny grape clusters. Many of which I would remove so that the plant isn't trying to produce too much fruit, making the grapes low in sugar and very poor for the purpose of wine making.
The trick is to get just the right amount of grapes, thinning them out just enough to get the largest crop with just the right amount of sugars. To do this i prune to one cluster per shoot, making sure to keep the best looking cluster that is closest to the first leaf on the shoot.
In July the clusters have clearly defined berries on them now and will continue to grow. And the grape canopy continues its growth and is trimmed once past the 5th wire to keep growth in check. I want the plant to concentrate on berry growth and not just vine growth.
And now we are at Verasion! This is the time of year when the berries start to produce their color and begin to ripen. It seems like it has taken forever to get to this stage and i can't wait to follow the ripening process for the first time in the vineyard.
I will keep you updated!
I've been eating these burritos for breakfast every morning over the past few months and I am still not sick of them, so i though I'd share them with you. First I take some frozen vegetables, add some water, set on med/high heat and wait for it to start boiling. I then add some vegetable bullion, let that dissolve, take it off the heat and rehydrate the appropriate amount of TVP (textured vegetable protein) to the water you added before hand.
Next I stir in a can of diced tomatoes and add hot sauce, chili powder, and red pepper flakes. I like it hot so i add plenty.
Then add the beans, I usually add 1 can each of kidney, black and pinto, But you can add what you like.
Just let it simmer for a bit, heat up some wraps, put some lettuce on it with some soy based sour cream and enjoy!!!
It makes a ton so you will have enough to fill an 8 pack of wraps.
