By Clint Thompson
Producers interested in learning how to grow grapes should make plans to attend a New Grape Grower Symposium on Saturday, June 24 at the Carroll County Agricultural Education Center in Carrollton, Georgia.
The symposium is for those considering the process and those in the first few years of producing grapes. It could also serve as a refresher for the experienced grape farmer.
Sarah Lowder, University of Georgia viticulture Extension specialist, highlights what growers can expect by attending this Saturday’s event.
“Growing grapes can be a rather tricky process. It can be a lot more involved, as in some other areas. It doesn’t mean we can’t grow absolutely amazing grapes, but it’s something you want to make sure you put in plenty of planning ahead of time,” Lowder said. “There’s a lot of great resources we’re going to be talking about during the symposium. I will be talking about some of the beginner planning stuff that you need when you’re planning your site selection so you can avoid some issues with our late spring frost when they happen.
“If you’re choosing your grape variety, which can also make a big difference in the type of grapes you’ll produce like, do you want to produce some of the vinifera wine grapes that may be more well known? But they are much more susceptible to diseases that can be a lot harder to control and susceptible to Pierce’s disease which is the bacterial disease that can kill your plant. That can sometimes be pretty quickly for the more susceptible variety. Putting that time in ahead of time to get your site prepared really sets you up well.”
Those interested in attending can register for $85 for the event at georgiawineproducers.org. Register as soon as possible so they can make sure to have lunch for you.