Kem Ormond’s garden: How to grow grapes, from planting, pruning to plating

Grapes need a sunny position, sheltered from strong winds. Photo / Phil Thomsen

Kem Ormond is a features writer for The Country. She’s also a keen gardener. This week, she’s waiting patiently to see her grape vine burst into leaf.

OPINION

Table grapes are typically characterised by their thin skins, which make them easy to bite into, and their lack of seeds, or presence of only tiny seeds.

These qualities distinguish them from other grape varieties and make them an ideal treat to indulge in.

After his retirement, my grandfather worked part-time during the bottling season at Vidals, a local winery.

I have fond childhood memories of him occasionally bringing home grapes that were exceptionally sweet.

He referred to these as table grapes, and they left a lasting impression on me.

Today, I have a small studio adjacent to my home, and in the summer months, a grapevine stretches across the front of the building.

The vine also covers my back fence, which is a good option for what is an unused space.

The lush canopy of leaves creates a serene, almost Mediterranean atmosphere, and when the fruit is in season, the vine becomes a striking visual feature.

The variety I have is called Albany Surprise.

It is a popular, older New Zealand table grape variety known for its large, juicy, dark blue-black berries with a sweet, spicy flavour.

Although referred to as a table grape, it does have quite a thick skin, but the taste is wonderful.

It is a prolific grower, hardy, and disease-resistant, well-suited for home gardens, and it’s a nice grape to add to a platter or pop into a lunch box.

If you are thinking of planting a grape, this would be a good choice.

You need to plant your grape in a sunny position; it needs to be sheltered from strong winds, and finally, it needs a good support structure such as a wire.

A fruiting arm on a grape vine after pruning. Photo / Phil Thomsen

If you already have a grape planted, you should have pruned it by now, as the buds will be fattening up, and you need to prune before those buds pop open.

This helps maintain the vine’s health and productivity, and is essential to keep the structure open and balanced.

You need to remove any dead, diseased or damaged wood back to the main stem.

An important point to remember is that the fruit is produced on the new wood, which grows from the previous year’s growth.

Kem’s Ormond's courtyard. Photo / Phil Thomsen

If you don’t prune your vine, it will turn into a huge tangle, and if you prune the wrong wood, you will end up with little or even no fruit.

I do two main prunes a year, at the end of winter and also a summer prune, as this helps manage growth as well as ensuring good fruit development.

The developing fruit needs sunlight to ripen, and it is also a way of reducing disease.

Over the summer, I periodically prune the extension growth back to two or three buds beyond the fruit, and I probably do this a couple of times.

This keeps my grape vine tidy and controlled.

Grapes freeze well, and they are so good to use instead of ice cubes in summer drinks.

They are also perfect in fruit salads and as a topping for desserts.

You will enjoy being able to pick a bunch of your own grapes on a warm summer’s day and just savouring that wonderful fresh sweet taste- pure magic.