Howard-Hill Vineyard

This Saturday, I will be holding my last Spring plant sale in the Vineyard. May 21, 2016 from 9am until 2pm 9969 US HWY 271 just 1.2 miles north of Union Grove ISD Planting during the Summer is simply not the best idea because it just gets too hot in Late June/July. Keeping the young plants well-watered without a good start in root development can be such a chore. This sale will be the last time I offer plants to the public until after the Fall harvest in September. We will be offering limited numbers of the following vines: MUSCADINES:  1) "Tara" (Bronze) - 1 & 3 gallon pots...................$7 each 2) "Southland" (Black) - 1 gallon pots only...........$5 each   [Our Best Seller] If you remember picking muscadines as a kid or know a family member that makes muscadine jelly these newer varities are going to really surprise you.  A single mature muscadine vine of the variety that we sell can produce between 50 and 100 pounds o...

Ethan and I planted over 740 plants today.  We started what I hope will be all the plants we need for our Spring garden and the beginnings of some of our Spring offerings in the new Nursery. I hope to have some traffic in March and there should be lettuce greens, beans, squash, cucumbers. and several other garden varieties just in time for the last frost date. Thanks for your help today, Ethan.   It was fun working with you today and discussing existential things. ~ Dad

2016 State of the Vineyard This year, Bill Howard and I were able to complete the pruning of the muscadine vineyard by February 1st.  That was a real milestone for us.  In years past we struggled to get half of the vines pruned before the buds began to swell in late March. (That is not a good thing.) We started cutting back to the fruiting nodes earlier this year and were intentional about completing the job before we got distracted with other tasks.  I was intentionally focused on this one thing. Being intentional got it done.   The "oldest" block in our vineyard was planted from 2009 to 2010, and it consisted mostly of 'Ison' and 'Seedless Fry' cultivars.  I was not interested in propagation of vines at that time, nor was I really interested in crafting my own wines.  I just planted seedless grapes that the kids might eat and their required pollinators. those vines turned out to be a great learning experience for us as we lost nearly 30% of wh...