Carniolan Queens are usually black and all of their offspring are darker making the whole colony look dark.
What is Ripe this Weekend? Grape Ripening Information - Find out what is ready to pick and what it will cost.
Ripening Information
Vineyard Notes for 2016 Picking Season
Great Crop of Grapes this Year!
Our Retail Vineyard and Honey Farm in Dryden, Michigan will open on Friday, September 2
We are open from 9 to 6, every Friday, Saturday and Sundays (only)
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NOTE - Some vines are still recovering from the Arctic Climate Event that happened a few winters ago - winters of 2013-14 & 2014-15. Those winters killed many of the trunks on the vines and they had to grow new shoots. Some rows did not have as much renewal cane growth last year and have less crop. (Grape clusters grow from last years canes) Most of the vines did fine and have a full crop this year.
COMMODITY PRICES
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U-Pick Grapes COMMODITY PRICES U-Pick Grapes
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(An average person can pick from 1 to 3 bu/hr - bring lots of friends) 2 bushel (80lb)
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Click here for a printable page that can be taken with you to the vineyard.
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(click on the Grape Page Link for more variety info)
Canadice Seedless is ready now - good crop and protected from bird damage by netting. |
Canadice Grape Page |
Rows 16 to 19, & 29 |
Einset is gone. |
Einset Grape Page | Rows 27 - 28 |
Reliance is gone.
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Reliance Grape Page | Rows 13 - 14 |
Niagara is ripe now. EASY PICKING! |
Niagara Grape Page |
Rows 58, 59, 71, 72, 87 to 89 |
Buffalo is ripe now - pick the black clusters. |
Buffalo Grape Page |
Rows 3, 4, 47, 88, 89 |
St. Pepin is ripe now - A lot of picking has been done - but lots of bushels left - Great fruity white wine |
St. Pepin Grape Page | Rows 61 to 63 |
Small amount of Lakemont is ready. |
Lakemont Grape Page | Rows 11 & 12 |
Rain and cold winter removed the Marquis crop. |
Marquis White | Rows 8 & 9 |
Rain and cold winter removed the Suffolk crop. |
Suffolk Grape Page | Rows 22 to 26 |
Rain and cold winter removed the Himrod crop. |
Himrod Grape Page | Rows 20 & 21 |
(click on the Grape Page Link for more variety info)
Price is now - pick the black clusters. |
Price Grape Page | Rows 6 & 7 |
Delaware is being converted to Niagara! No crop this year. BUT THERE ARE SOME NICE CLUSTERS OF NIAGARA IN THESE ROWS! |
Delaware Grape Page |
Rows 68 to 70 |
Buffalo is ripe now - pick the black clusters. |
Buffalo Grape Page |
Rows 3, 47, 88, 89 |
Niagara is ripe now. EASY PICKING! |
Niagara Grape Page |
Rows |
Concord is ripe now. |
Concord Grape Page |
Rows |
Steuben is ripe now. |
Steuben Grape Page | Row 5 |
Ny Muscat are mid September. |
Muscat Grape Page | Row 50 |
Click here for a printable page that can be taken with you to the vineyard.
![]() Frontenac is ripe now - A lot of picking has been done but still a few bushels left. |
Frontenac Grape Page
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Rows 73 to 77 |
Dechaunac is ripe now - A lot of picking has been done but still a few bushels left. |
DeChaunac Grape Page | Rows 51 to 54, 64 to 67 |
Concord is ripe now. |
Concord Grape Page | Rows 1, 2, 48 & 49 |
Foch is ripe now - A lot of picking has been done but still a few bushels left.. |
Foch Grape Page | Rows 42 to 46 |
Baco is mostly gone. |
Baco Grape Page |
Rows 55-56
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(click on the Grape Page Link for more variety info)
St. Pepin is ripe now - A lot of picking has been done - but lots of bushels left - Great fruity white wine |
St. Pepin Grape Page |
Rows 61 to 63 |
Cayuga is ripe now. |
Cayuga Grape Page | Rows 33 & 34 |
Niagara is ripe now. EASY PICKING! |
Niagara Grape Page |
Rows 58,59,
71, 72, 87 to 89
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White Wine is ripe now |
White Wine Grape Page | Row 37 |
Horizon is ripe now. |
Horizon Grape Page | Rows 35 & 41 |
Seyval is ripe now. |
Seyval Grape Page | Rows 31 & 32 |
Vignoles is ripe now. |
Vignoles Grape Page | Rows 38 & 39 |
Delaware is being converted to Niagara! No crop this year. BUT THERE ARE SOME NICE CLUSTERS OF NIAGARA IN THESE ROWS! |
Delaware Grape Page | Rows 68 to 70 |
GW-5 is ripe mid September. |
Gw-5 Grape Page | Row 15 |
This is a grape cluster before bloom, the clusters are closed.
This cluster is in full bloom when most of the grape flowers are open.
See the small white blossoms all over the cluster
This photo and the email below was submitted by Rick Vanderpool
The white blossoms are actually the anther (produces the pollen) and stamen (white support tube for the anther)… The grape “blossoms” include the petals that are actually a translucent green – see photo attached, and more on my www.flickr.com/photos/stateart1 site, the OOGGYWAWA set (OOGGYWAWA is Zulu for ‘cheers’)… At the top of the image frame (one attached) features a fertilized ovary… The heavy dew was cool, huh?
It seems that even most growers have never really seen grape blossoms, so I’m interested in all grape and wine-lovers getting a chance to see the tiny, short-lived, lovely little blooms that I have been fortunate enough to discover and capture photographically… Thank you for sharing – if you wish!
Best regards, Rick
Here each berry has bloomed and set fruit.
The berries will rapidly swell in size
Ther berries are increasing in size (June)
The berries are full size and some varieties are starting to change color. (Late July)
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Delaware in row 70 before pruning
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This delaware vine in row 70 had only one trunk so we pruned & trained a long cane from the base of the vine up and over the top wire to become a future trunk and top cordon.
This picture was taken May 6, 2001. It shows Delaware buds in the "bud swell" stage. The bud on top is normal and the lower one has frost damage from April.
This is a picture taken on May 31 after the freeze on May 21. It is the same area as the above picture (both those buds are dead now). We can see new growth coming from other areas of the vine.
Delaware vine in mid-June
Same vine in late June
Vine is exploding in growth!
The grapes are now in bloom. See the very tiny white petals.
Click here for a series of bloom pictures.
The Delaware vine in late July is very large and the berry cluster is almost full size.
September 1, The Delaware clusters are ripening up. This cluster will be ready to pick in mid September.
Freezing temperatures hit the Delaware vine in mid October & it quickly returns to just how it was before pruning.
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Cranking up bird netting after the harvest
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Installing Geneva Double Curtain cross arms late in the year.
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A hard frost in late fall has burned the leaves off of the vines and ended the season for this year. In a few days all the leaves will be gone. |
Want to make Cayuga White Wine? Click here for the Cayuga Grape Page....
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Cayuga in row 34 before pruning
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This cayuga vine in row 34 does not have a mature top cordon like the dechaunac vine did, although it does have 2 trunks. (We use two trunks to help with winter damage - in case we lose one trunk, we still get a full crop on the other.) Two longer canes are trained across the top wire to develop the top cordon. A few extra 5 bud spurs were also retained.
This picture was taken May 6, 2002. It shows Cayuga buds in the "bud swell" stage. Cayuga starts its spring growth somewhat later than DeChaunac or Delaware and had very little frost damage.
This is a different cayuga vine down the row from our original. The first one was not typical of the row. See how there are not many new shoots and they come from anywhere on the vine rather than on the 5 bud spurs. This is caused by the freeze.
Picture taken on 6/3/02.
Cayuga vine in mid-June
Same vine in late June
Vine is exploding in growth!
The grapes are now in bloom. See the very tiny white petals.
Click here for a series of bloom pictures.
In late July this Cayuga vine and it's berry clusters are almost full size.
September 1, The Cayuga clusters are ripening up. This cluster will be ready to pick in mid September.
Freezing temperatures hit the Cayuga vine in mid October & it quickly returns to just how it was before pruning.
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Cranking up bird netting after the harvest
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Installing Geneva Double Curtain cross arms late in the year.
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A hard frost in late fall has burned the leaves off of the vines and ended the season for this year. In a few days all the leaves will be gone. |
Want to make DeChaunac Wine? Click here for the DeChaunac Grape Page....
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DeChaunac in row 53 before pruning
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This dechaunac vine in row 53 is how I would like all of my vines to be. (2 trunks, a mature cordon on the top wire and spurs (I use 5 bud spurs) across the top cordon.) I use a system called "single wire cordon" pruning. There are many ways to prune and train vines but this is what works for me in a vineyard with over 20 different varieties of grapes.
I use many different things to tie the vines, twine works very good along with various plastice devices. In recent years I have used a lot of "Clip-It" ties. The top cordon has been "wraped" around the top wire (when it is still small). This keeps tying the vine to a minimun & it is sometimes called a "no tie" system (although there is still a lot of tieing involved).
These pictures were taken May 6, 2001. It shows DeChaunac buds in the "bud swell" stage. The bud on the left is normal and the right one has frost damage from last April.
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This spring is very cold and late and even though the buds were delayed there was much damage. Most of the new shoots are supposed to be coming from the 5 bud spurs that we left on the vine. This year the majority of them are coming from the main trunk. Fortunately the DeChaunac variety is very fruitfull and I can already see small grape clusters on these vines.
See the flower cluster. This will bloom and become a bunch of grapes
DeChaunac vine in mid-June
Same vine in late June
Vine is exploding in growth!
The grapes are now in bloom. See the very tiny white petals.
Click here for a series of bloom pictures.
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Freezing temperatures hit the DeChaunac vine in mid October
& it quickly returns to just how it was before pruning.
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Cranking up bird netting after the harvest
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Installing Geneva Double Curtain cross arms late in the year.
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A hard frost in late fall has burned the leaves off of the vines and ended the season for this year. In a few days all the leaves will be gone.
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Carniolan Queens are usually black and all of their offspring are darker making the whole colony look dark.
3 queens in small 1 inch wide wooden boxes - ready to install