Nova Scotia Grape Insurance Program The NS grape insurance program is one complicated affair. Fortunately, the field agent, Angie Garnett is very helpful and transparent in her explanations of the program. The program doesn’t cover dead vines. Immature vine production is covered according to a formula that takes an average of the insured vineyard mature […]
Summary The year 2020 marked the third year in a row that cold weather played a detrimental role in the farming of grapes at Johnston Vineyards and much of the Annapolis Valley. June 4, 2018 brought a severe late spring frost (the worst since 1958) that eventually resulted in the loss of 1/3 of our […]
Summary 2019 was a year in which the long term damage caused by the frost of June 4, 2018 and the subsequent harsh winter of 2018-19 became evident. One third of the vinifera, vidal, seyval and Geisenheim-318 died or were severely damaged. All plants were 5 years old or younger. Root damage was thought to […]
Overview Spring 2019 revealed more dead plants from winter kill in all vinifera and the less hardy hybrid varieties in addition to the dead plants already identified as being killed by the frost in 2018. In total, 30% of Johnston Vineyard vines died in 2018-19. The majority of the dead plants were vinifera followed by […]
Pruning after the devastating spring freeze of 2018 Johnston Vineyards lost 95% of its grape crop due to the spring freeze of 2018. The 3.5 tons of Petite Pearl and Vidal that was picked did not exceed 16 brix. All primary and secondary buds from the other varieties (Marquette, NY Muscat, Cabernet Foch, Riesling, Chardonnay […]
So You Want to Go Organic….. First of all, why? The main reason Johnston Vineyards is going organic is to protect the owners and employees from the toxic effects of synthetic chemicals. These chemicals may also be found in the wine which in time should provide incentive to wineries to produce more organic wines. I […]
By early September these Marquette vines had filled out and were hedged once. However there were no grapes VINE RECOVERY FROM FROST DAMAGE The morning of June 5, 2018. There were no green vines anywhere in the vineyard By Mid July some growth was observed Johnston Vineyards lost 95% of the 2018 grape crop due […]
Extent At between 4 and 6 am June 4th 2018 the temperature dropped to -2 to -3 C in Upper Falmouth, Nova Scotia. There was adequate warning from the various weather apps, but the most accurate one was “The Weather Channel” (-1C predicted). The most inaccurate one was “AccuWeather” (+2C predicted). By mid morning it […]
SUMMARY The winter of 2017/18 was a benign affair. The maximum low temperature at Falmouth was -17 degrees C. There was very little snowfall and pruning could be done most days throughout the winter. Consequently 2 workers were able to prune and tie down 21 acres of vines. Eleven additional acres were new plantings with […]
Summer and Fall 2017 at Johnston Vineyards Summary The weather was ideal for new vines planted in 2017 at Johnston Vineyards. The last 9 acres of grapevines were planted this spring for a total of 31 acres over the past 3 years. The weather was also favorable for the grape crop with lots of sun […]
