We have Grapes for Sale NOW! Frontenac and Frontenac Gris as well as some LaCrescent! Please contact John@OttawaVineyards .com for more information on how much is available. The grapes are netted and ready to be harvested. WE NEED YOU TO BUY THEM! We can pick or You can pick — contact us! They are centrally located in the Maxwell/Farrar, Iowa vicinity. Contact:
Barb@OttawaVineyards.com 515 418 6868
or
John@OttawaVineyards.com 515 669 0259
Once again we are very grateful for our friends and families who welcome the opportunity to come and work in our vineyard – with food, wine, and entertainment as the immediate reward*.
If you have the desire to learn more about grape growing and see what it’s all about (and no, this isn’t the Hokey Pokey!), you are more than welcome to join us at The Vineyard at Arbor Creek in Maxwell, Iowa. Is is a lot of fun, though!
Beginning at 8:00 and probably finishing by noon, we will show you how to help make the grapevines more productive for the harvest season coming in just a couple months. If you helped prune before, you’ll be amazed at the difference two months can make!
*We do believe in what the Little Red Hen said — something like this, “And who will help us prune the vines”? … and all her helpers pitched in and they were rewarded in the end with the fruits of their labor — in the form of wine! Well, The Little Red Hen has become more sophisticated over the years.
Right now, John is at The Vineyard at Arbor Creek, spraying for the 2nd time those pesky Japanese Beetles. What an invasion. It seems that America was attacked by both at one time or another — the Japanese, and then the Beatles. Now they’ve ganged up on us and are attacking so many different plants.
I’m going to read up more on the Diatomaceous Earth … it’s natural, organic, and kills exoskeletal insects! On the other hand, it’s good for livestock as it kills parasites inside and out … and it’s good for people too, but it will be a while before I mix myself 1/4 cup of DE with anything to drink. But it sounds like it’s a kept secret until you familiarize yourself with it.
Have I digressed? Sorry.
It is a beautiful night outside tonight — what a reprieve from that heat we’ve had for the last 10 days or so! Just me, the tree frogs, locusts, some fireworks in the distance, and the computer outside. This is one of those times that I wish I would have ordered the backlit keyboard …. sometimes finding homerow is touchy!
We will be sending out emails and facebook notices regarding the Pruning Party on the 21st.
Feel free to reply to this post …. I’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions (as long as they are basically nice!)
Have a wonderful week!
Barb
We are planning on having our 2nd Pruning Party at the Vineyard at Arbor Creek on Saturday, July 21st, 2012. Because of the possible heat, we will plan to begin at 8:00 a.m. and hpe to be done by noon. Again we will have refreshments and LOVE LOVE LOVE your help! Will let you know details very soon!
Well, here we are … the eve our our first Pruning Party. Actually it’s a sucker removal party, but we didn’t think there would be much of a turnout if we called it a Sucker Party. . . “Welcome to our vineyard, SUCKERS!” Ha, no.
We THINK we’re organized. That goodness for Dan & Linda who have done it before and are leading the way. We have our thoughts together on the initial training part; we have the spaghetti sauce and salad dressing prepared; bread and wines bought.
The first glitch is that the lead guitar player of the 3 piece combo cannot make it, so that leaves us with a bass guitar and drums. They don’t carry much for tunes. Linda and I may have to fall back on the karaoke machine, as we did promise “live” music!
Just discovered that Dan & Linda had the t-shirts made – which is a wonderful gift from them to us for doing this. They are absolutely marvelous people and have become great friends through the vineyard connection.
We will be keeping you posted as to how it all goes off in the morning. Still need to buy fresh muffins for coffee before the pruning begins. Until then, cheers!
That’s 103 brand new Marquette grape vines planted this weekend! This little vineyard is in our backyard, aptly named the “Chichaqua Ridge Vineyard”. The posts and poles have been set and soon the wires will be added. It will be a while before they reach the wire though.
So, who’s in for the Pruning Party on Saturday, the 19th? We could use your help and you will be rewarded with a homemade spaghetti lunch including salad and bread, your choice of wine or iced tea, as well as some live music! We should be finished around 1:00, but stay as long as you like. Please do RSVP to Barb@OttawaVineyards.com or 515 418 6868.
Remember what The Little Red Hen says … “Who will help me prune the vines?”
We have finally taken the plunge! Ottawa Vineyards, Inc. is stepping into the management position of an established vineyard near Maxwell, Iowa! We have over 3 acres of grapes in 3 separate fields. Our goal for this year is to get the vines back into producing shape and replace the ones that have failed.
Pruning the vines began in January and we finally finished in April! Just after we finished pruning the old canes, we had 3 consecutive nights of freezing temperatures that really damaged the oncoming vines and buds.
Everything seems to be making a comeback now, althrough they won’t produce as much as if they had not been hit by the freezes.
Next weekend we’re having a Sucker Pruning Party to rid the vines of the energy sapping suckers. It will be a great time starting with coffee, muffins, and instructions. Then everyone will hit the fields and lop off those suckers! We figure a couple hours in the field, after which a nice spaghetti lunch and wines will be served along with some light and live music!
I’ll keep you posted on the progress of our vineyards.
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