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Notes From the
Vintner
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Welcome
to our column. We hope that you will return to
learn interesting notes on wine, and related
subjects. Wine is a great gift from God to be used
for the enjoyment of man. It is a food, and should
be treated as such. It is meant to lift up the body
and lighten the soul. 02/1/03
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Why not start
your own grape plants???
Sometimes we have a friend who has some grapes that we wish
we had on our property. We can just wish that we had them,
or we can make our own plants. The first step is to ask the
person if you may have some of the wood that they have
pruned off the vines. This is the hardest part in making the
plants. The rest is easy, and it just takes a bit of
time.
You want to make your cuttings soon after the person had
pruned their plants, like a few days. You do not want the
vines that have been cut off to dry out. Arrive at the
vineyard with a good pair of pruning shears. It is important
that the shears are sharp and will make a clean cut.
Select wood that is medium in size and has no defects on it.
Do not use the large canes; they are bull canes and not the
best for plants. Select a good, average size cane. The next
step after selecting the cane is to clean it. This is done
by cutting any and all of the small canes and tentacles off.
You should have a long cane of vine that looks like a whip.
Hold the cane in one hand and start making cuttings with the
other. Make your first cut straight across the vine just
one-eighth of an inch below the bud. Then count up three
buds (or at least eight inches) and make a second cut at a
45-degree angle about an inch and a half above the bud. You
repeat this process until you run out of good cane or the
cane is less than the size of the thickness of a pencil.
Now bundle the cuttings in a bundle of 25 or 100. Take them
and bury them in a mound of dirt, completely covered by
about six inches of dirt. When you place them in the ground,
be sure to place them pointed cuts down. When you bury the
cuttings, they will scab over. They should stay buried until
you are ready to plant them in a few weeks. If the ground
looks like it is going to really dry out, throw a bucket of
water on the mound now and then…but do not make it real
wet.
Now you have the cuttings, and you have them
buried…Good
Job…Next
month we will talk about planting them. But for now, let's
enjoy a glass of wine and dream of many good things.
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