KyMar Farm Winery and Distillery

Progress continues….

Great trees

Annoying Pest

Vines just getting started

New Crusher

Site Prep

Who says she isnt a farm girl?

Had a great weekend!

Taught Marissa how to ride her Honda CR 100. She did great. You can just see the edge of the trellis system in the background of the picture of my fearless Riss.

We are still not meeting the time scales we set out at the begininng of the year for Kymar. However, we are close.

Our progress to date:

Around 200+ apple trees in the ground with partal production still a few years out.
We also have 500+ grape vines in the ground.

The supporting trellis system has been installed though we still have to pound the end post which are 6×6 and string the support wires. End post will get done before the snow flies but we will not string the wire until the spring.
Excavation for the barn has been completed. Contract for installation has been signed with Morton Buildings with an expected completion date of November.

The LLC has been formed and we have almost completed all of the Federal Forms for a Distillery permit. Havent really started wih the State forms yet.

Next week we buy a new grinder and press for this years apples. I will deliver before the weekend.

Our building permit has been submitted, and we have another 30 gallons of wine fermenting.

We have ordered an 80 gallon still from Hoga Company in Portugal. We expect delivery in November.

Until next time,

Ken

This weekend coming up we have cleanup in the orchard and around the vines. Lots of field to cut and corn to pick.

The apple trees look great other than still finding some sinking in the planting holes that drop the graft below the surface level. I’m fixing these as I find them.

The vines on the other hand are still struggling to make the wire. The late May freeze did significant damage and though I had hoped for full recovery, it didn’t happen.

Of the 200 trees we have planted in the last two years, we lost one. Of the 500 vines, we have lost around 10. Most have been victims of the weed whacker!

The trellis is up though we still have to anchor the end posts and string the wires.

The town planning office is OK with our plans and we are selecting our builder for the barn this week.

Next week, I’ll publish our construction plan.

I saw a Crane this past weekend. What an amazing bird of surprisingly large size. I didn’t know they were in the area of the state, but I’ve seen this same bird in the pond three or four times this summer.

What an awesome day on the hill…….. This is the property as seen from across the road. If you look close, you can see the trellis.

Updated Pics on the pic file…. added some from this weekend……. http://www.ky-mar.com/Kymar2008/1/slideshow.htm?1-true

Dave, Mary, Lori and I signed all of the Kymar Docs.

We selected a barn style, agreed on the layout and hav e a contractor working up a price.

Trees and grapes look pretty good. Trellis is going in first week of August.

Gave the first rides through the fields over the 4rth…. Dave’s birthday

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Things are looking pretty good for the apples planted last year and this spring. the trees we top worked on the roadside field last year are looking real good as well. The bt took care of our uninvited guests and we are continuing with our low on an as needed basis only spray program. The only downside to this weekend is the rain and hail and grape vines…. over 3.5 inches of rain in the last few days and a heck of a hail storm. About 20% of the trees that were planted this spring need a bit of work as well. They are now a bit deep and if left alone will rake root above the graft. We can take care of this over the fourth of July weekend.

The vines on the other hand are not happy at all. First we had the late may frost which devastated the Swenson red and the GR7 as I had cut them back to a few buds 6 inches above the ground. Then, just when they start pushing secondary buds as everything close to the ground was taken out by the frost, the hail comes along and literally knocks the new growth off. These grape vines are proving a bit more difficult than the apples I know and love. The Frontenac, Valiant, Edelweiss, and Marquette look well and should all make the wire this year.

We are going to try to get the trellis in around August.

New Barn for production in September.

Should hear from planning department for Summit if there are any issues in the next two weeks.

The wild flowers are awesome. Proof that cutting everything to look like a golf course is not the best policy. Dave and Stan still disagree!

It was too hot and I am still a bit too sore from my tractor play time to get a full day/weekend work in. I only sprayed the top field trees and did not get to the bottom or road side trees. I was able to get one row of the Marquette weeded down an entire row. The GR7 still look bad.

The Caterpillar infestation and the black flies they bring are still putting heavy pressure on the plants. Light deer damage and a half inch of rain for the week with heavy storms this afternoon. With the storm coming, It didnt seem like a great idea to keep sprayng as the rain was expected to be heavy enough to wash it all off.

Dave is going to monitor the caterpillar pressure midweek and perhaps spray again.

Dave, Mary, Ian and Denise were in the field working potatoes when I pulled in with Zuco. Not sure they did any work. I think they decided to have an afternoon chat instead.

If you open the image, to the left of the group is where the corn has been planted. It is only about 6 inches high so can not be seen in this pic.

Before we loocked up and came back for Fathers Day, Zuco went for a swim in he pond and I ran the brush hog down the drive and opened things up a bit. The yard needs to be cut and I have fallen way behind on the house maint.

It might be a few weeks before I get back up, so I’m not going to be catching up just yet!

Amazing weather we are having. Frost for two days week before last, and now we are over 90F. Another 1.5 inches in the rain gauge. This makes us 3.5 on the month which is about where we should be though it doesnt make up for the 2 or 3 inches deficit from March/April.

The frost did some damage to the vines. The two rows that did not make enough growth last year to make the wire with a good cane this year were pruned to two buds pretty close to the ground. All buds closer than 6 inches to the ground were lost to the frost. The Swenson Red are pushing new growth from the roots, but the Geneva Red do not look good. As it stands, The Frontenac, Valiant, Edelweiss, and Marquette all look pretty good (aside for the half dozen Daver and I damaged mowing and tilling). The Geneva Red appear to have lost 12 out of 50. Perhaps they will push growth from the roots… we shall see.

The Apples all look fantastic. Everything is leafed out nicely. Heavy Caterpillar infestation, but went through all 200 trees and killed what I could see and sprayed all trees and vines with Captan. So much for being organic! We did loose one of the Cortland trees over the winter. I’ll dig it up at some point this summer to see if we can identify any obvious problems with the tree.

Dave and I spent a considerable amount of time mowing and weeding. I’ve also decided that this level of effort to keep the rows clean is not sustainable so I used Roundup for the first time on the first two rows of grape vines and on all of last years apples.

Sunday, I had some clean up work to do…. I was in the main field at 6:30 am and the view was amazing. Only the hill tops above 1500 feet were visible. Everything else was wrapped in a dense fog. Picture you ask?? Of course, I grabbed the camera and snapped off some great shots. On review, I found that my daughter removed the memory card so, No, there are no pictures. Thanks Marissa!

Dave and I staked out where we want the barn to go. Lori to approve design.

Have a nice week!

So why don’t we just pick up where we are instead of where we have been. Spring planting is done. It has been a cold and somewhat dry spring and I managed to get myself run over by my own tractor. Hence, it should be no great surprise that we are now a few weeks behind the schedule laid out in the business plan.

I did speak with John Meaney at the Summit Planning and Zoning committee and things look good for the town to not require any approvals as this is an agricultural endeavor.

I should hear within the next few weeks if there is an issue.

We need to build a barn for production facilities. We can’t file our federal permits without permanent production space. I’m going to try to get out this weekend to discuss with Dave and Mary and make sure we have it staked out the way we want.

Dave says that the Apples are all doing well. Gypsy Moth traps have been put out and we sprayed deer guard over Memorial Day weekend. The Swenson Red and Geneva Red are not doing well according to Dave. I cut the entire vineyard back to the ground, everything else looks good.

I will need to spray for tent caterpillars and leaf rollers this weekend. Also will give a shot of sulfur to the road side trees to combat scab.

Will update next week.

Ken