Highland Community College, with funding from the Kansas Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, is hosting a series of free viticulture (grape growing) workshops around Kansas in 2012. There will be nine workshops in all, one per month February through October. The workshops will consist of “in-the-field” lectures and demonstrations covering the full spectrum of season-appropriate topics. Led by Dominic Martin, HCC’s Vineyard Manager and Viticulture & Enology Instructor, the three-hour workshops will be held in these nine Kansas counties: Saline, Jefferson, Pottawatomie, Dickinson, Lyon, Douglas, Harvey, Cowley, and Miami.

All of the viticulture workshops are free and open to the public. The first workshop was conducted on February 27 at Smoky Hill Vineyard just north of Salina, and focused on winter pruning, double pruning as frost protection, and winter herbicide applications. To RSVP to any of the remaining workshops, please contact Scott Kohl, Viticulture and Enology Program Director at HCC at 785-456-6006 or skohl@highlandcc.edu.

2012 Vineyard Workshop Series
Funded in part by Kansas Department of Agriculture Specialty Crop Block Grant
February 27, Smoky Hill Vineyard, Salina, 2-5 pm,
 
Winter pruning, double pruning as frost protection, winter herbicide applications
March 26, Crooked Post Vineyard, Valley Falls, 2-5 pm

Winter pruning both VSP and Hi-cordon, trellis maintenance, spring pesticides
April 23, HCC Vineyard, Wamego, 3-6 pm

Foliar sprays, especially for downy and powdery mildew, black rot, anthracnose, sprayer calibration, drip irrigation [Guest Speaker: Mike White, Iowa State University Viticulture Extension Specialist]
May 23, Kanza Vineyard, Chapman, 3-6 pm

Grand Period of Growth, canopy management, shoot positioning, vine training, fertilizer application
June 25, Eagle Creek Vineyard, Olpe, 3-6 pm
 
Vine nutrition, petiole analysis, canopy management, vine balance
July 23, Davenport Vineyard, Eudora, 3-6pm

Pre-harvest topics, excessive vigor, fruit sampling, irrigation to delay or prolong harvest, proper fruit ripeness
August 27, Grace Hill Vineyard, Whitewater, 3-6pm

Harvest issues including containers, transportation, hand versus machine, communication with the receiving winery, picking and delivering cool fruit
September 24, Wheat State Vineyard, Winfield, 3-6pm

Harvest issues, formation of the periderm (bark), winter kill prevention
October 22, Emerald Prairie Vineyard, Paola, 3-6pm

Record keeping, variables that may be altered to enhance fruit quality for the following season