Posted by Janet Harriett on Jul.05, 2010

©iStockphoto.com - kati1313

Grapes were one of the last types of fruit I started growing. The instructions for training and pruning grapes can be intimidating for a beginning fruit gardener, especially since growing grapes requires building a support structure. While I am handy at many things around the house, engineering and installing a support structure capable of holding up for 30 or 40 years is not one of them. Grape vines should be trained to a trellis or arbor, though if you plant them in a garden arbor where you expect to spend a lot of time, be aware that ripening grapes tend to attract yellowjackets.

Red-skinned grapes contain more antioxidants than the green varieties. Select varieties based on what you want to do with them. If you’re looking to grow snacking grapes, you’ll want a seedless table grape variety like Canadice, Flame, Reliance or Himrod. For juice or homemade winemaking, a wine grape like Concord, Delaware or Catawba fits the bill. Wine grapes often have a slip skin, where the skins slip readily off. Wine grapes are perfectly edible out of hand, but if you or your kids are used to the grapes from the supermarket, the sensation of the squishy grape innards shooting out of the skins inside your mouth takes a bit of getting used to.

Grape varieties can be very narrowly adapted to certain climate zones. When selecting grape varieties, check with your county extension office for a list of varieties known to grow well in your area. While you’re at the extension office, you can also pick up provide detailed information about correct pruning techniques for grapes. The cane growth needs to be managed through annual pruning to ensure good production every year and minimal disease infestation. Many extension offices even host grape pruning classes. Grape pruning often looks more complicated on paper than it is when you actually get in and do it.

A single grape vine, once established and in peak production, usually 4-5 years after planting, can produce 20-40 pounds of grapes per year, usually over the space of only a few weeks. Grapes preserve well by freezing or juicing, with the resulting juice either canned or frozen. While homemade raisins are a preservation possibility, I’ve always found the drying time to be far too long to be worthwhile, especially since my climate doesn’t usually lend itself to outdoor sun drying. I can do a lot of dehydrator loads of other fruits and veggies in the time it takes to make a cup of homemade raisins.

Kiwi is on my list of plants I’d like to add to my fruit garden eventually, but I don’t currently grow them. The fuzzy kiwi you get at the grocery store will only survive the winters in USDA zones 7-9, putting them well out of reach of my Zone 5 fruit garden. A smaller, fuzz-free hardy kiwi, which looks quite nice in garden catalog pictures (but then again, what plant doesn’t?), will grow in my area and I may eventually add a kiwi arbor to my fruit garden.  Kiwis have male and female plants, and, like mammals, the male plant is necessary for fruiting though only the female vine will actually bear fruit. To successfully grow kiwi, you’ll need at least 2 vines, one male and one female.

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