Grapes For The Home Garden

What fruit could be more romantic and luxurious than the grape? With bunches of luscious little fruits clustered together on huge, lazy vines wrapping around any nearby tree or structure, grapes are downright sexy. Sexy, and immensely practical because of their varied uses. For thousands of years people all over the world have cultivated grapes. The highly nutritious anti-oxidant-filled fruits are made into juice, pie, jam, jelly, wine, vinegar and raisins. The seeds are rich in oil used for cooking, and, according to some sources, may be a good fuel source. The leaves are used to make dolmas, a famous Mediterranean culinary delicacy, while the vines are used to make rustic wreaths and baskets. The leaves of some of the wild varieties are used to make a yellow dye. The plants themselves are beautiful, serving many purposes within the landscape. They are a great choice either for growing on an arbor over a seating area needing shade, or screening the view of something unsightly.

There are two general types of grapes grown in the U.S. Old World grapes have skins that do not come apart easily from the flesh of the fruit, while the skins of New World grapes, sometimes called “slip-skin grapes” and “fox grapes,” peel off easily. We are most familiar with the Old World grapes, known botanically as Vitis vinifera. These varieties of grapes are native to Spain, France, and Italy, and are generally grown for wine production. These plants thrive in their native homes, but after they were brought to North America by early explorers, quickly succumbed to many types of fungal diseases that are widespread in the humid areas of the Eastern U.S. Their native Mediterranean climate is much hotter and drier with a different type of soil, so there are fewer fungi there. The Old World grapes need a long, hot, and somewhat dry growing season.

The New World group includes, amongst many other species, the Muscadine grape, which grows wild throughout the American Southeast, and the Mustang grape, found wild in Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas. Every state in the U.S. has at least one species of native grape. The native grapes are delicious for making pies, jellies and juices, though they aren’t really suitable for the production of fine wine. These New World grapes tolerate different types of climates and soils.

Eventually, bummed-out farmers in the U.S. got tired of drinking overly-sweet, or “foxy,” wine and began grafting the Old World grape varieties onto native grape roots by cutting the top of the Old World grape plants off of their roots, then sticking them onto the root system of native grape plants more resistant to fungal diseases. These types of grafted plants are still available today. Farmers also bred the Old World grapes with the native grapes to create new disease-resistant varieties that closely resemble Old World grapes, and these hybrids are also widespread today. The grafting and breeding efforts kicked off the winemaking trade in the U.S., particularly in California, with a climate and soil type similar to Mediterranean countries. Some of the breeding resulted in better slip-skin varieties. The most famous of these is the Concord, grown in New York and the Midwest for commercial jelly and juice production. Concords are also delicious eaten fresh.

While Old World grapes are not the best choice for novice gardeners because they are so prone to disease, the foxy native grapes and hybrids are easy for everyone to grow. If you are a more experienced gardener and a passionate wine drinker, you should try some Old World grapes: you will get caught up in the complexity of their flavor. All grapes need soil with a relatively neutral Ph. Most varieties prefer to grow in soil rich in minerals. If you are not sure about the type of soil you have, check with your county extension office to ask them what type of soil you have and what types of grapes grow well in your area. A list of extension offices is available here: Extension Offices. If you are not sure about your soil, you are probably ok with adding either some homemade compost or manure compost, as well as some crushed granite and other mineral-heavy dry fertilizer to your planting hole when you plant the grapes. Once a year in early spring you can spread the compost and minerals around the base of the grape vine. Avoid fertilizing grape vines in the late summer because it will stimulate the plant to create new, tender growth that will be easily killed by the winter cold. It is very important that you keep weeds from growing around the base of your plant because the small grape plants do not compete well for space, light, and nutrients. Grapes need a very sturdy structure to climb on, and arbors are a favorite of homeowners, but they will also grow on chain-link fences. Garden Maven Peg had a huge grapevine growing on an old swingset for many years. If you are using grape vines to hide something ugly in your landscape, it’s important to note that grape vines lose their leaves in autumn. Unless you have a gigantic arbor for the vines to climb, grape vines will grow out of control without an annual pruning in either late winter or early spring. Keep checking www.growingpleasures.com to see an upcoming project article about grape vine pruning.

Look out for diseases on your grape vines and intervene early if you see any bad signs. The most common disease is black rot, which causes the fruits to turn black and shrivel up into “mummies.” Dispose of all mummified fruit, and try spraying the plant with an organic fungicide. The best defense against rot disease is to plant a variety that is well suited to your area. Downy and powdery mildew are also common on grape vines. The leaves will look like they have either gray or whitish film on them. Both of these mildews are best controlled with a potassium bicarbonate spray, especially if sprayed during very early onset. Japanese beetles are the most common insect pest. These shiny beetles travel and feed in huge numbers, eating the leaves of grape plants. Milky spore is a great organic choice for controlling populations of Japanese Beetles.

So, if you’re passionate about gardening, you are likely to be seduced by the sexy grape. I heard through the grapevine that grapes have a crush on you too! Ugh- bad joke. Here are some other great grape resources:
Rodale, J.I. How to Grow Vegetable and Fruits by the Organic Method
Hill, Lewis Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden
Organic Gardening

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