You need to know the ways to harvest grapes irrespective of whether you have raised them for commercial purposes and have numerous rows of grapes or grow in your backyard just as a hobby. You will definitely not want to harvest grapes before the sun has done its full work and ripened them enough or prune harvest with the wrong procedure and ruin your entire crop. You don’t have the option of restarting the whole process so you need to get it correct the first time itself.
Many make the dire mistake to harvest their grapes before they have ripened. The major problem is determining exactly when the grapes have ripened. Usually most grapes ripen during the cool autumn months of August to October which may vary according on the variety. Mostly people come to know if the grapes have ripened or not from outer skin color. However, there are some varieties in which the change of color is so faint that the chances of missing it are high. So you need to check out numerous things. These include:
- Major change in color, like from green to dark blue
- Change in the color of the seeds to brown from green
- Grape size no longer increases
- Change in the taste of grapes to sweet which can be checked by a tongue test. You can also purchase a refractometer which helps in measuring the sugar content.
Once you have ensured that the fruit is ripe enough, you can harvest them. There are two ways to harvest grapes- by machine or by hand. There are people who think that harvesting grapes by hand can only be done in small wine estate operations. However, this is far from correct. There are several gigantic commercial farmers who never use machines for harvesting. Of course, harvesting through machine is faster which is mostly used if the weather is bad. In case if you harvest grapes by hand and a backyard farmer or have never done it before the following steps need to be followed:
You need to ensure that the weather is good, preferably a warm sunny day. This means you may have sunburns. Ensure that you are well protected with sun block and proper clothing.
A pair of good sharp shears is required. The cutting shears should be well oiled and should fit comfortably in your hand. A bulky pair of shears is most likely to harm your hands even if you wear gloves. If left handed and doing a lot, do yourself a favor and get a left handed pair of shears.
You need to be careful so as not to injure the stem while clipping off grape bunches. Pull the grape bunch gently and then clip. Leave some stem so that the grapes can be handled easily afterward.
Cover the grapes once haven been sheared; keeping the grape clusters in a shallow wood box or on a tray away from sunlight. Too much direct sunlight may spoil the grapes.
Once you have finished harvesting your grapes keep then in a dry and cool place. Once harvested its all up to you on you how you, relish, enjoy and consume hem. You can eat them all at once or make some jam, juices or jellies.
Even if you have worked hard all the time to produce healthy vines it all boils down to how carefully you are when harvesting your grapes. The quality of any other product you make depends a lot on how well you harvest. The bottom line is that harvesting grapes at the right time walks a fine line between a failed crop and a great one.
Tags: Harvester