Honeyflow Farm Home Page
The Vineyard      The Honey Farm      The Candle Shop

November in the Vineyard

I would like to thank all the visitors at our farm this fall season. It has been a very different year - quickly selling out of many varieties due to the short crop caused by spring frosts. We were not been able to press as much juice for winemakers as we usually do. It has also been a very rewarding year, talking to many interesting customers and making plans for the future. We have decided to plant some more vines, such as concord, vignoles and also a new vine called Frontenac, a red wine for winemakers.

In mid October a series of hard frosts hit the vineyard and within a few week all the leaves are gone and the vineyard looks just like it did last spring.

It is now clean up time in the vineyard. All the bird scaring devices such the audible alarms & balloons come down and the bird netting gets removed and rolled up on to tubes. All the honey and material in the sales stand gets packed away. Now if you want honey and candles you can still get them from our on line candle shop.

This row is in the process of being converted - the top wire is still in the center.	This Geneva Double Curtain row had some vines trained to it last year - notice two wires 54 inches apart on top.

We are also converting many of the rows on the east end of the vineyard to Geneva Double Curtain trellises. This system allows us to train the vines differently.

The rows that are planted in the west half of the vineyard (the older section) are spaced 9.5 ft apart (the vines are 8 ft apart in all the rows). The rows in the east end (newer) are 13.5 ft apart. This allows room for a 54 inch crossarm on all the posts. Then 2 (54 inches apart) parallel wires are installed. Each vine is alternated, one on each side, giving the vine 16 ft to grow on compared to 8 ft in the older section. This allows better air drainage, leaf exposure, better fungus & insect control and larger crops. This area is all planted in wine grapes.

November Grape Recipe - Grape Upside Down Cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 12 inch baking pan. Wash grapes and pinch stems off. Cook in heavy sauce pan until pulp is soft; run through a sieve or cheesecloth to remove seeds, if necessary. Place grape pulp into saucepan, add skins and ¾ cup sugar; cook until skins are tender (about 15 minutes). You should have about 2 cups of pulp.

Sift dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add shortening, ½ cup milk, eggs and vanilla; beat 2 minutes. Add remaining milk; beat 30 seconds. Pour into prepared pan. Spread grape mixture over top of batter. NOTE: Grape layer will sink to the bottom during baking. Bake 45 minutes. Serve warm with whipped cream, if desired. Makes 12 servings.
From Sandy Pruden, Michigan

• 2 lbs. red grapes, seeded or seedless
• ¾ cup sugar
• 1 tsp. salt
• 2 ¼ cup cake flour
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 2 ½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ cup shortening 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 eggs

Do you have a great grape recipe - please send it to me and we will put it in our newsletter.