[tkln]

Absolutely beautiful. Is that a grapevine? Hope you enjoy your wine during the cold snowy nights!!!

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by tkln

Absolutely beautiful. Is that a grapevine? Hope you enjoy your wine during the cold snowy nights!!!

Yes it's a grape vine. Personally, it blocks my view, but the wife loves it.

[square peg]

Haha - I got one of them. Wife, that is. When we bought our house a long time ago, it had a few vines here and there, but the grapes were bitter so I didn't see much reason in keeping them around. Ours didn't provide any useful shade like yours. Anyway, they were out behind the barn, so they're long gone. I hung on to the wife though - and those are great pics.

[tkln]

You could've used used the leaves to make stuffed grape leaves. Mmmmm. That's what we used to do with ours.

Quickdraw - are your grapes sweet?

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by tkln

You could've used used the leaves to make stuffed grape leaves. Mmmmm. That's what we used to do with ours.

Quickdraw - are your grapes sweet?

They are sweet, but they vary from year to year. Some years they look like they belong in a magazine, other years not so good. Even in the good years, we'll get a sour one in an otherwise good bunch. Makes biting into each one a bit of an adventure. We don't eat too many.

Good and bad years probably have something to do with bugs, which of course vary greatly every year. Maybe japanese beatles?

Our peach harvest varies greatly from year to year too. Unfortunately one of our two peach trees died last year. The other one doesn't look far behind.
Squirrels eat 95 percent of them anyway. They like to take a single bite out of a peach and move on to the next one.

[arctichomesteader]

The reason they vary is the climate. They both need warmer weather and milder winters than we get. Neither grapes nor peaches should technically grow up here but they will, just a bit unreliably. I've found wild grapes and they've made good jelly, if nothing else. I've yet to find any old peach trees in the woods though.

Nice pics, BTW.

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

The reason they vary is the climate. They both need warmer weather and milder winters than we get. Neither grapes nor peaches should technically grow up here but they will, just a bit unreliably. I've found wild grapes and they've made good jelly, if nothing else. I've yet to find any old peach trees in the woods though.

Nice pics, BTW.

Do you know much about fruit trees? If you look at the pictures, in front of our cabin, you'll see a cherry tree. After six years, we have never had cherries, plenty of lush green leaves though. The previous owner said she had cherries. Is there anything we can do?

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

Do you know much about fruit trees? If you look at the pictures, in front of our cabin, you'll see a cherry tree. After six years, we have never had cherries, plenty of lush green leaves though. The previous owner said she had cherries. Is there anything we can do?

Is it a sweet or sour cherry tree? And is there another cherry tree nearby or was there in the past?

It could be a lot of things: poor pollination (more likely with sweet cherries), disease or insect issues, lack of nutrients, or, the reason sweet cherries are not so common up here, cold damage to the buds (this is a common issue with a lot of fruits that aren't really adapted to the climate here).

Here's some good pics showing how to tell if you've got damage to the buds: Assessing Frost Freeze Damage to Stone Fruit Trees (http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/frstprun.htm - broken link)

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Is it a sweet or sour cherry tree? And is there another cherry tree nearby or was there in the past?

It could be a lot of things: poor pollination (more likely with sweet cherries), disease or insect issues, lack of nutrients, or, the reason sweet cherries are not so common up here, cold damage to the buds (this is a common issue with a lot of fruits that aren't really adapted to the climate here).

Here's some good pics showing how to tell if you've got damage to the buds: Assessing Frost Freeze Damage to Stone Fruit Trees (http://www.canr.msu.edu/vanburen/frstprun.htm - broken link)

Don't know about sweet or sour, or if there was another one. I'll check out the buds. Thanks!

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

Don't know about sweet or sour, or if there was another one. I'll check out the buds. Thanks!

Just don't cut them all up, obviously. Check some here and there.