A Year in a Home Vineyard

Grapevine Dormancy The beginning of the calendar year in my Hyde Park, New York home vineyard is when the vines are in dormancy. This is a period of time when the grapevine rests and reserves its stored energy for the upcoming growing season. After harvest, the grapevine’s focus turns to expanding its root system and starting to harden off its canes for a long winter’s nap. After harvest, make sure to give your vines a heavy watering. I installed a soaker hose along my lower trellis wire to provide a slow but deep watering to my home vineyard rows. If Mother Nature provides water, all the better. The heavy watering will flush the roots of any built up salts and also aid in the rapid root growth. This well-deserved drink of water will also help in moving the stores of nutrients through the vines and into the canes; allowing them to harden off for winter. This will make them available and ready for fruit production next year. This is very important where I live in the Hudson Valley where it