Quail Run Ranch

I pruned the heck out of the grape arbor and reaped the benefits!….

When we got here in 2021 we found that the previous owners
has tried to grow grapes out back behind the house. The couple had suffered poor health, or so we are told, and could not keep the place up and that included the grape vines. They were an unmitigated disaster unless you were a snake or a bird and then it was beneficial to make your nest in the bramble or go hunting for food. They were growing all over the trellis support and looked like something Brer Rabbit would run and hide in.

At first I found a small bunch of feeble grapes and I wanted to see if I could make the vines bear again. In the winter of 2022, my friend Betsy and I got out the loppers and pruners and went at it. We took the whole business down to the main trunks which were revealed to have never been staked properly and were going every which way. We also had to take out the jury-rigged cobbled together wire supports. It was a big job but we did it

Pretty soon we had the original 3 main trunks. Marty made me California
style supports and I fertilized with 9-11-3 rose food (to encourage flowering). Then I crossed my fingers and waited to see what would happen in the spring of 2023. I was hoping we had not pruned away too much.

Long story short we had not.

The vines came back vigorously and gave us so many red
seedless grapes that I gave them away, ate fresh grapes until we popped and made raisins with the rest.

This year I am looking forward to another bumper crop.