CEDAR RAPIDS – A few random thoughts as the eight-month Vineyard Management course at Kirkwood Community College wrapped up tonight with its last class of this session. If you have to spend a lovely September evening “studying,” the Kirkwood vineyard is not a bad place to be.
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Tag: Lucas McIntire
Viticulture full circle: harvesting grap...
CEDAR RAPIDS – Who can blame Kirkwood Viticulture Instructor, Lucas McIntire, for being in what I can only describe as a state of grape Nirvana. At our most recent class, the weather was Iowa-perfect and early grapes were good to go, allowing us to not only harvest the fruit of the vineyard, but to take […]
Viticulture: Night of the netting
I have to admit, I wasn’t particularly thrilled to hear we would be putting up bird netting during our viticulture class this week at Kirkwood Community College. I’ve tried bird netting on various plants. While useful, it’s not the easiest gardening tool to work with, often becoming tangled on branches or wire or body parts. […]
Viticulture: Japanese beetles and many, ...
CEDAR RAPIDS – Between the various vineyard diseases, voracious bugs, birds and other predators, I’m amazed that any grape can survive to maturity. At our most recent viticulture class at Kirkwood Community College, we learned about fungal diseases of grapevines, such as anthracnose or
Vineyard trellis-building and “wine” jok
Anyone who regularly drives Interstate 380 south of Cedar Rapids knows about the Nesper sign jokes, those often-corny puns that flash across the giant electronic billboard alongside the interstate. Tonight’s joke was particularly fitting as I drove to Kirkwood Community College for Viticulture class… “What did the grape do when it got stepped on? It […]
Viticulture: First look at the Kirkwood ...
We made our first foray into the Kirkwood vineyard during tonight’s viticulture course. Our instructor, Lucas McIntire, warned us of the muddy mess, but once we walked to the hillside, the ground was in better shape. March is prime pruning time for grapevines, especially with the frigid weather we’ve been experiencing this spring in Iowa. […]
Viticulture: Week two, or three
Snowstorms canceled two of our four Vineyard Management classes at Kirkwood Community College in February, and the weather trend seems to be continuing. I know our instructor, Lucas McIntire, would like to get started on pruning lessons, but as the winds picked up and snow began to fly even today – in mid-March – the […]
Viticulture 101
We’re only at the PowerPoint stage, but I have a feeling that the Vineyard Management courses I’m taking at Kirkwood Community College will turn into an incredible hands-on experience. Classes, which run from February through September, cover the basics of establishing a vineyard; costs; planting; pruning; trellis construction and more.