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: viticulture
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: the most awesome garden too...
I can’t believe I’ve never seen a “Tapener” before now. At our most recent viticulture class at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, we used this handy tool to position young grapevines onto trellis wires. A combination staple gun/tape dispenser, the Tapener is ingenious, and as long as it doesn’t get jammed, is fairly simple […]
Viticulture: Playing with fire
The past two weeks have been busy ones for the Vineyard Management class at the Kirkwood Vineyard in Cedar Rapids. We’ve planted more than 30 grapevines, learned to string trellis wire, attached grow tubes to the new vines and tonight, had our chance to play with fire.
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. […]