Baby Vines

Yesterday we planted about 1000 baby vines in the vineyard. Over the last few years the Stowe Vineyard has developed many “skips” or missing plants, many due to the 06/07 winter freeze that took 80-90% of the vineyard. While most the vineyard came back healthy and strong, there were many plants that just couldn’t make it. Now we must replace those plants.

It is a very interesting process to create new plants. This past spring we took one foot cuttings from all the healthy vines in the vineyard. These sticks were then bundled together and planted. Yesterday we dug up these bundles, separated them into individual sticks, and replanted them in one long row. The sticks had already shown signs of growth with 3″ long roots and a few buds at the top. It is amazing how a seemingly dead cutting from the vine can awaken and form new roots and begin to grow.

Now that we have all the baby vines in one row, we will cover them and let them grow for the season. Next spring we will once again dig them up individually and replant them in their final location. Here are a few photos from yesterday’s planting:

This is what become the “training” row where the baby vines were planted. We basically dug a long ditch, ran water down it to soften the soil, and stuck the sticks in. We then covered the baby vines.

Here are the sticks just after we planted them. 1000 sticks, 6″ apart! Next spring, when they have developed a stronger root system, we will dig these babies up and replant them throughout the vineyard.