Last September I decided that I was going to try and grow grape vines on my urban balcony in the Spring. So I did some Internet shopping and ordered three Chardonnay vines from Double A Vineyards in Fredonia, NY.
They were scheduled to ship on April 7, so a couple of weeks ago I began to think about where I was going to put them.
I had three planters already (12.5″L x 12″W x 11″H. Then because I’m not in a vineyard I went out and bought three trellises, rather wire.
here is a photo of trellises in the planters.
Anyway, today the vines arrived. They came via UPS in this package:
I opened it up and they were wrapped in plastic like this:
Inside that they were packed in damp, shredded paper like this:
The vineyard shipped them with planting instructions. They’re grafted plants so the instructions said to plant the vines with the graft 2-3 inches above the soil. My planters are a little shallow and are about 4 inches above the soil so we’ll have to see what happens. The instructions also say to immediately after planting to cover the graft with soil. As I live up above the fifth floor and it gets windy this will be impossible. So again, we’ll just have to see what happens. The instructions also say it is important to cover the graft with soil every winter and remove the soil in the spring. I will have to investigate further why this is.
Here is how they look once they’re in the pot. Kind of like sticks in the ground.
Stay tuned!
2 Comments
April 10, 2008 at 3:39 am
Hey Nicole, I am greatly inspired by your introduction to your urban vineyard. I commend you on your enthusiasm, your preparation, and your ability to share with us every detail of progress. Since I’m a visual person, I am most impressed with your photography. I feel that I’m inside the beginning pages of a good story book, and am eager to turn the pages. Jody … p.s. … Tom wants to know if he gets royalities for showing his garage.
February 4, 2009 at 9:16 pm
About how much money would you estimate you spent on this project, building the vineyard?