It's a fence full of grapes in Miami. When we moved in a few years ago, we were blessed by the previous owner's green thumb and love of good food, particularly food from Greece. Beside this fence vine, we have figs, kumquats & bay leaves.
However, grape vines were intimidating. The first few years, I did nothing. But two years ago, I read up on pruning. As it turns out, it's a two year process. The vine 'fruits' upon 1 year old wood. This means you need to have planned the pruning to allow for such 1 year old wood for the fruit the following year.
Looks like I managed to prune it well because there is an abundance of clusters. I have no idea what type of grape it is yet nor do I know when it will ripen. I've tried to thin a few of the clusters. They seem bunched too tightly to ripen well.
I have met a neighbor with a grapevine and stopped to ask his advice. However, he only grows them for the leaves. At least I have plenty to share. We'll see if they taste good enough for him.
If all goes well, I'll post later in the season with results.
Some of the websites I've been looking for advice;
Florida Grape Growers Association
http://www.fgga.org/index.html
Wouldn't it be fun to try wine making? Well maybe fun- maybe a pain in the neck, we'll see.
http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/riparia.asp
The University of Florida Online Extension site
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg105
A coil of sennit, hand-woven from coconut husk fibers at the National Park of American Samoa. The coconut is the most useful of all plants in American Samoa. The tree provides a wide range of useful products, and nearly all its parts except its roots are used.
