Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/603228
www.goodfruit.com Good Fruit Grower DECEMBER 2015 41 a plow designed to turn soil up over the root and the prostrate cane. The next spring, the buried cane is pulled back up before a tool, a rotating sweep brush, is used to claw back the straw or soil. That new cane will bear a crop, so the grower won't miss a single harvest. While it's costly and time consuming, de Schaaf said, the alternative is to lose 100 percent of the crop for two years— and possibly lose the vine completely. "In Michigan and other colder cli- mates, we promote the idea of leaving renewal spurs," de Schaaf said. "So our vineyards look hairy and uncut com- pared to those in California. Years ago, we would train a renewal cane to a low wire, thinking it might survive a winter buried under snow. But that interfered with weed control so we abandoned that practice. "The idea now is to choose the best of the renewal canes and lay it down and bury it as an insurance policy. This is widely done in Europe." Some growers in Oregon use a similar method, digging a V-shaped trench and laying two canes in it and then covering them with soil. "I grow Pinot Gris and Grüner Veltliner grapes," de Schaaf said. "They are not as cold hardy as we thought they'd be, but they do come through spring freezes and bear a good crop on secondary buds, just as they do in Austria. I bury a cane from each vine every year now." He uses the soil burial method—he calls it hilling up—finding it cheaper than buying 125 small square bales of straw each fall. It takes a specialized tool to cover the cane. The brand he uses is made by Spedo, from Italy, but others are avail- able. "Save a crop one time, and you've paid for the equipment," he said. • David Francis works at the research station and has developed this disk plow for hilling vines and covering an "insurance" cane. "I grow Pinot Gris and Grüner Veltliner grapes. They are not as cold hardy as we thought they'd be, but they do come through spring freezes and bear a good crop on secondary buds, just as they do in Austria. I bury a cane from each vine every year now." — Mike de Schaaf